This picture features Leo, a marvelous cat that I was privileged to grow up with. He was seriously amazing. He was an outdoor/indoor cat who could take care of himself while managing to appear loving and cute all at the same time. Back when elementary school started at 9 in the morning (!) my brother and I used to walk the few blocks to our crazy establishment of education. Leo used to follow us all the way to school, and many days, once we were released from our classes, we would catch a glimpse of Leo skulking around the neighborhood, waiting for us to walk home.
Leo, my friends, was pretty BA. He owned the block we lived on and I wouldn't be surprised if he ruled the entire downtown area. Sometimes at night my mom would wake up to a horrific caterwauling in the alley. She'd scurry out to break up the cat fight that usually ended with Leo as the victor. The funny thing was that Leo didn't have claws on his front paws. This leads me to imagine a hilarious cat fight in which Leo used his hind legs to beat up any cat who looked at him the wrong way. In the morning the alley would be littered with clumps of cat fur. Leo was a fighter.
When Leo wanted to come back in the house he would perch on a pedestal right outside our back door and meow frantically until someone let him in. When it started to rain, his meows would reach a fever pitch as his fur became drenched with precipitation.
Sometimes we wouldn't see Leo for a whole day and find out later that he had spent the day snoozing in our neighbor's house. I guess at times we were a little much for him. He would always reappear for breakfast and dinner, which was a relief.
When I was feeling blue I used to carry Leo up to my bed at night and he would lay with me until I fell asleep. I used to pretend to fall asleep just to see if he would stay. Like clockwork he would doze until a few minutes after I had "fallen asleep," then he would silently jump off of the bed and continue with his night routine. I loved Leo fiercely. He was a constant source of fluffy love. I'll admit that his breath smelled like death and if you got too close to his face he would bite your nose, but I saw him as some sort of a feline guardian.
As I look back on my childhood, I can see God comforting me through the love of our cat. Leo didn't have all the answers (trust me, I asked him lots of questions), but he helped me through the dark times I had growing up. I am so glad my parents made the commitment to take care of 3 kids, 1 Australian shepherd, and Leo. I only have one, 6 pound dog now and sometimes the responsibility seems overwhelming! I intend to invite pets into my family for as long as I can take care of them because they really do give back more love than we could ever deserve.
Long live the pets!
Love,
Charlotte
Leo was a true cat angel.
ReplyDelete