Today we're going to take a break and just do a little fluff - what the news shows would call a "human interest piece". I'm out in Florida visiting my family, and one member of my family in particular is the subject of today's blog: my family's cat, Oreo. Oreo is probably, to most people, an unremarkable cat, but to me and my family she is super duper awesome. First of all, she's incredibly friendly. I think she's one of those cats that thinks she's a human being. She loves being picked up and held and she loves it when my Dad rubs her tummy. If given half a chance she comes right over and sits on a lap and just starts purring. She's actually really small, so small people think she's a kitten sometimes.
What's particularly remarkable about her is that I even was able to pick up and hold her. She's an indoor-outdoor cat. She spends every night in my parents garage, laundry room or outside. She loves to go out and hunt animals and run around, and the neighborhood loves her. As always with outdoor cats, you worry about them. In this case, about six months ago, my parents gave me the sad news that Oreo had been missing for a few days. A few days stretched into a week, then into several weeks. Most of us gave up, although of course I kept saying all the right things: that some family probably was keeping her, thinking she was a stray. Maybe some kids took her home and begged their parents to keep her. She was chipped, but that requires going to the vet to discover. She didn't have a collar.
My mom was the one person who genuinely didn't give up hope. She always thought the cat was coming back. And, lo and behold, one day I called, and nonchalantly my mom mentioned that Oreo had just showed up! A neighbor had called while my parents were out saying that they'd seen Oreo just a couple of doors down from my parents place. They drove over and sure enough, there she was, just walking around like nothing had happened. It had been about six weeks. She was well fed and groomed, so obviously had been living with some family.
There's a few lessons here, which I'm sure you already know but it's always worth remembering: first, love something today because it might not be there tomorrow. Second, even though things often don't work out in this world, that means that sometimes, they do. Third, cats are clever creatures.
Hi, Oreo!