Much to mine and my husband’s chagrin, our daughter decided to start calling herself Cat when she was in seventh grade. She introduced herself to all of her teachers as Cat, all her friends now know her as Cat, and her byline in the school paper is Cat. At the time we were incredibly embarrassed at the thought that all of her teachers thought we were weird parents who would name their kid Cat. In the ensuing years, we’ve realized that there are far more embarrassing things she could have done.
Although we didn’t think about it at the time, Cat is an apt name for our daughter as she has this magickal infinity with all creatures wild and domestic. We’ve always had some sort of animals in our lives. We had a dog and a cat when Cat was born and her grandmother let her and her brother adopt kittens when she was about six. Cat named her’s Barney after Barney the dinosaur and she always loved to go to Grandma’s to play with her kitten. Hermit crabs were next in Cat’s menagerie and it was with her beloved hermit crabs that she learned the hard lesson that the animals we love often die way too soon.
Cat’s menagerie currently includes two birds, two hamsters, and a Guinea pig named Chester. After the birds, we’d absolutely forbidden Cat to bring any more critters into the house, but she convinced her brother that she absolutely needed a Guinea pig so he took her to buy one. Once we got a look at the sweet little creature, there was no way that we could make her take him back. Chester came into our lives the day after my father’s funeral and Caitlin named him Chester in memory of what was supposed to have been my father’s middle name.
For a teenager who lives in a typically cluttered room, Cat is a wonderful mother to her critters. She always make sure that they have food and water and even springs for the special lavender scented bedding for Chester once in a while. Chester returns her love by squeaking to be picked up and cuddled when she comes in the room and by bringing joy into her life. Cat always has to regale us with the latest stories of our “grandchildren” and we love seeing her nurture her animals.
Animals bring a special kind of bliss into your life as they’re always there for you and they will always love you unconditionally. I feel especially “blissed” to have a daughter like Cat who the critters always flock to.
Cairn by Cairn 