The plan was to get a dog. Eventually. Years from now. And name him "Zeppelin".
But instead we got a cat. Last Friday. And his name is BEN.
I guess you could say that LIFE HAPPENS.
Some of you are shocked because our personal viewpoints about these feline creatures do not match the act of getting a pet cat. And you're right. THEY DO NOT. In case you weren't already aware, here are the cat-based opinions of the Parkinson house ADULTS. The so-called "decision makers" of the family...
ME
Ever since my family housed a psycho-cat named Mush, I have been 100% anti-cat. Then my bestie became a cat person and that made me hate cats even more. What do you mean you need to go home and hang out with your cat? What do you mean your cat was "playing" with you by leaving scratch marks on your arms? What do you mean your iPad is broken because your cat knocked it off the table and you're not even mad about it? So, yes. I've been ANTI-CAT like you don't even know.
PHIL
Phil's allergic to cats. That summer we set up camp in my parent's basement? In the presence of Mush hair? Not our finest. Phil thought he was going to die from his allergy symptoms and I thought I was going die of sleep deprivation resulting from listening to Phil's allergy symptoms. Also, if you've ever seen a man with a stuffy nose, you know 2 months of that nonsense is sure to leave a scar on any marriage ;)
But then there's Nory. The ever-enthusiastic, extra-passionate, all-in-or-totally-out daughter of ours. Her viewpoint is totally opposite.
Nory LOVES cats. You may
recall the cat party Emily planned for Nory's second birthday. Or
perhaps you've seen the plethora of cat toys/shirts/dresses/books we
have at our house. Or perhaps you've heard Nory go on and on about cats
in conversation. And, to be honest, I should scratch the "perhaps"
because y'all know the girl's OBSESSED. When you pop by our house with
cat nail decals or cat-sitting gigs for Nory, we know YOU KNOW.
And then there's Jet. The easy-going, always-smiling, whatever-you-think-mama daughter of ours.
Now that you know where we all stand in the cat department, let me tell you that we didn't actively seek out a cat. A series of circumstances welcomed Ben into our home.
Allow me to explain:
1) There are many cats that roam about on our school campus and, I'm not
sure who does it, but there is a kind soul who leaves them little piles
of cat food so that they don't go starving. Well, due to health and
safety issues, a "no feeding the cats" rule has been implemented at school
and the staff was told they should take a cat home if they wanted to continue feeding them.
2) There was one cat that we saw every day as we walked to our classrooms. This particular cat developed quite the reputation on campus and he often hung out inside the library, helping the librarian with check-outs or cuddling with students at the computer stations. He would also weasel his way into elementary classrooms, disrupting the learning process with his friendly visits.
3) The librarian was unable to take this cat home (since he has two cats of his own), but he wanted to make sure this one-of-a-kind animal found a safe place to live. He started advertising the cat around the school community and, although everyone commented on how much they adored the wee thing, most people were pet owners already and couldn't bring the cat home. So people started offering what they could instead. They offered free rides to the vet. Cat trees. Litter boxes. Cat carriers. Food. Water dishes. Money to assist with the initial vaccinations. Clearly, this cat was a very loved animal.
4) Since Emily moved into our building, our visits to her house have been enjoyed without any allergy-suffering from Phil. We started thinking that Phil is only allergic to certain cats and perhaps.....just maybe......this school cat could find a home in OUR HOME!
5) We arranged to have a formal meet and greet with the cat (and the librarian), where we agreed upon a "one week trial" to see how Phil's allergies would respond to the cat in our home. We were super excited to come back to school on the weekend and go on a "cat hunt" with the girls. Although, that lasted all of TWO SECONDS because the cat was so friendly that he ran right into the cat carrier....
 |
| So much for the "cat hunt" I built up on the ride to school.... |
6) What you don't know is that, deep down, Phil is a big animal lover and we hadn't even drove through the security gate before Phil remarked, "Well we can't get rid of him now. I already like him!" Luckily his allergies haven't acted up because Phil is Ben's biggest fan.
After Nory.
And Jet.
OMG. We have a cat, you guys!
Not a dog.
A cat.
And his name is Ben.
