Sweet Friend

I don't know what it's like in your corner of the world, but thunder storms are raging in northern California. Violent storms. Sideways rain storms. The kind of storm that wakes you in the middle of the night railing against your windows and walls and you burrow yourself further into bed. A week like this, a stormy dark week, might have called for a post about how hot bowls of soup can banish the blues (which they do...many of you already know my feelings for soup), or any other number of modern comforts that soothe. But instead, I am remembering another dark time in my life. Three years ago this week, I came home from my grandfather's funeral to a stormy city, spent nights awake listening to the wind and the rain scratch and scream, thinking about loss and searching for meaning in a life I knew to be fleeting. And also three years ago this week, my parents went to lunch and passed a pet store that was sponsoring some animals from the Humane Society. And there he was, watching the sidewalk traffic, curious and unafraid. When my folks and I went to the pound to check him out, it was clear that this was no ordinary cat. All the others I had seen ran away and hid or nipped when they tired of you. This one strode right up to my mom and I and had me hooked with the very first 'mrow.'

KITTY FACE! Whoa, sorry, I'll get it under control now.

I love it when pets have proper people names. I knew that a cat with such a strong personality needed a name like an old man in a deli, (Saul, Irving, and Henry were all tossed around) and Max was perfect, being my great-grandfather's name and me recovering from a family loss. How this animal has changed my life, I cannot even describe to you here. When I think of how he filled the great emptiness left inside me from loss, I almost lose it. How do you begin to thank someone (and yes, I guess a cat is a someone) for filling my apartment and my days with life?

I don't have an exact birthday for my sweet friend, but a three year anniversary is good enough for me. And I could not think of a more appropriate subject this blustery January night. Especially as he is curled up and snoozing on the couch right next to me.