Reged: 06/01/04
Posts: 7013
Loc: Maine (IBS-A stable since July '05!)
First of all, it was my ex-husband's idea to get these cats. I had wanted a cat, but I would have been pretty happy to go to a shelter and adopt an old cat, just one. He had a friend who'd found a mama cat with kittens, and that's how I ended up with two feral cats, and boy, what a pain in the butt they were!
When my ex and I decided to split up, he made it very clear that under no circumstances would he take the cats. They were "my" problem. I was furious... not because I didn't want them, but because I was about to potentially be homeless and I didn't know what the heck I was going to do with the felines.
One night, I was sleeping down in the basement (yes, the BASEMENT), crying about the whole mess I was in, and Phoebe jumped up on the bed. She curled up against my belly, and I draped an arm around her. Well, she took a paw and stuck it in my hand, like she wanted to hold my hand, and looked up at me with these big, sad, "I just want to comfort you!" eyes. I just bawled, and I decided right at that moment that those two cats were going to stay with me no matter what.
And they have... through some less-than-ideal living arrangements and an awful lot of moves. They're still my #1 source of constant daily laughs, with some of the insanely dumb things they do. They still comfort me when I'm feeling blue, and they snuggle me when I'm sick. They even sat with me in the bathroom through 95% of my IBS attacks - LOL!
It's going to sound awful to people who don't understand, but there's no doubt in my mind that if it came down to choosing between a significant other and my cats, my cats would win. They are 100% unconditional love.
Posts
I realized my cats were priceless when.... (long)
