Mom says I’m the bestest of helpers!!
I help all the time
I sweep the floors
I help mop the floors
All the floors
And I watch the grandkids’ volleyball games with Mom and Dad.
I am a GOOD helper!
TLC Cai-Cai
WAIT!
I hear something!
SHHHHHHHH!
OH!
I know…it’s DAD!
Dad has come outside to do something.
I’m going to go and help DAD!
Dad and I are Buddies!
Mindy Lou-Sue
Mindy gets to go outside!
ALL THE TIME!
I want to go outside!
YES, I DO!
So, Mom hooked me up with something that chokes me and we went out.
The wind was blowing.
It was coooooooooold.
We came back in.
Later on, it warmed up; Dad took me out!
I HAD A BLAST!!
Then I had to come back in.
Mom says I can go out gradually, a little bit every day.
She says she doesn’t want Mindy to get mad at me and fight me. (I feel strong, I told Mom, I can fight Mindy. —that is exactly the problem, Mom replied.)
And, Mom went on to explain—I don’t want Mindy leading you off into the depths of the farm and you won’t know your way back. And, YES, Mindy would do that.
You can go out with either Dad and I, then when we feel comfortable you can go out on your own. The time is coming, TLC, soon. Very soon. Mom said.
Sigh!
TLC Cai-Cai
MOM!!!!
MEOWWWW!
YEOWL!!!!
MOM!
I have something for you!
It’s a gift!
Just for you!
OPEN THE DOOR!
COME OUT!
See! MOUSE!
Just for YOU!
YUMMM!
“What a good girl, Mindy. Come in now and have a wee nap.” Mom invited.
So, I did.
Mouse. Full Tummy. Nap!
Life is good.
Mindy
Paper!
Paper crinkles, and rattles and does stuff
When I walk on it, or anything to it.
GRRRRRRRRRRR
GET PAPER!
Attack!
Roll around, bite,
DESTROY PAPER!
Paper is ever so much fun!
Oh! Look! ELEPHANT!
Grab Elephant and take into BOX!
Box!
OH! Box is nice!
Chew on Elephant a little bit.
AHHHH! Box
I love BOX!
TLC Cai-Cai
I can do this.
I really don’t want to.
I want Mom and Dad all to myself.
But….
I’m getting used to HIM.
It helps he is growing older.
By this time in my former life of having children, I would have sent all my kids off into the big wide world to have adventures by themselves.
But…no, here I am an ancient cat (I am at least nine — heading toward ten, Mom thinks) having to raise a kid!
I do pretty nice, most of the time.
Although sometimes I just have to, I MEAN HAVE TOO, swat at that boy…he gets too carried away.
So…we’ve worked it out. I have my chairs, he has anything else, that I don’t want.
I get the whole outside.
He is terrified of the whole outside (GOOD!)
I get Mom and Dad.
He gets Mom and Dad.
I get time away from him.
He gets to know me (some).
It’s coming together, Mom says.
I suppose.
Mindy Cat
I was in my box, just resting.
Well, kinda, sorta, maybe, not resting so much, but HIDING!
The mice had all gone to play all over the house…I took them everywhere.
One at a time.
One in the kitchen…grrrrrrrrrr kick, kick….bite
One in the bedroom…bat around, bat around
One upstairs, one here, one there, I think you understand.
Then I grabbed GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRiaff…he sounds like a bell. I growl at him.
I was just getting GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRiaff taken care of when I saw a STRANGER(!) in the midst of everyone!
I jumped straight up in the air.
Then I ran into box again.
It was still there.
Just sitting!
I know what this is…no one told me, but I know.
IT IS A RAT!!!!
RATTTTTTTTTTTTTT!
I jumped out of the box right onto RAT!
Then I proceeded to KILL RAT!
I really worked RAT over—he rattles, which is rather cool.
I took care of RAT for such a long time that I was worn out.
Giving RAT one last swat I left him to his own devices
and hopped onto the sofa where Dad likes to seat (sleep) Shhhhhhhhhhhh
Sigh. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
TLC Cai-Cai
I’m adjusting.
Sorta.
Kinda.
I really don’t like that kitten. He wants to pounce on me ALL THE TIME.
Which, does NOT go over, Thank you very much.
“SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” With teeth bared and my claws out.
(Although, I know not to really hurt that thing. I always look at Mom or Dad to show them I am just being the boss.)
Anyway. I still live my life as if TLC Cai-Cai doesn’t exist.
I do lots of hunting.
I bring mice to Mom so she can have one with me…
although I eat them, she just pets me and tells me what an excellent job I do.
I sleep in the house on MY chair, have great kitty snacks, a drink of milk, now and again. And toast by the fire.
All this is good.
And—
When Dad is outside (which is lots of time)
I make sure I am WITH him!
Dad says I am the perfect helper.
I think so too!
Mindy Min-Min Cat
I am HOME!
YAY!
I didn’t know this was home for a little while, because, after all…. I had a home with MOMMY first.
But something terrible happened.
I didn’t even get to have all the proper time with Mommy when someone picked me up and threw me out-the-door.
I used to live with Mommy, we had food, and I had Mommy, and we played, and I learned to use the potty box…everything was nice.
Then suddenly someone with big boots (I hate big boots; I scream and yell and try to kill big boots when I see them) booted me out the door.
I wandered around for a long time.
Then a special thing happened.
My new OLDEST sister found me wandering in the parking lot where she parks to go to work…I meowed LOUD so she would see me.
She saw me!
YAY!
I spent the rest of the very long day with my new BIG sister at her beauty salon getting held and petted by all sorts of nice people.
Then on the way to my NEW MOM AND DAD, I screamed and yelled and cried because my tummy was terribly empty and I wanted some food.
As soon as my new Mom saw me, she opened up a can of YUMMY soft cat food.
I ATE IT ALL GONE!
(It took me a little while because I had to eat a small amount then go play, come back eat some more until I got full.)
Once I got my tummy full, and I had a big play with my new felt bunny, I fell asleep and slept a long, long time.
When I woke up I knew I was SAFE!
Mom and Dad call me TLC, (Terry and Linda’s Cat) TLC CAI-CAI (sounds like Kay-Kay).
I am a boy! A big tough strong BOY!
I like to do STUFF—I run through the house, I hide and try to get Mindy to play with me,
I hang out on Dad’s lap; watch his IPad with him,
and take a nap on his lap in the evening.
I make sure I am with Mom everywhere she goes. And if she doesn’t get me breakfast first thing in the morning, I TELL HER!
We have a very special understanding of things, Mom and me.
I have a small problem of needing to suck on something just before I go to sleep, Mom and my oldest new Sister think I was weaned too soon. They think I was around 6-7 weeks old when I was tossed out to fend for myself.
Anyway.
Mindy doesn’t really like me. But I’m working on it. I run at her and try to play, I sit and watch her sleep, and I try to get as close to her as I can when she is eating. I think she will start to like me if I do those things.
At least I hope so. Mom says I need to tone things down a little bit. I don’t know about that. I only tone down if Mindy tells me!
I live inside…I don’t even want to go outside. But Mom says not for a long time can I go outside. It’s too wet and too cold and too nasty. And Mindy might take me off somewhere and dump me.
I’m not interested in that ‘dump me’ situation again.
Life is WONDERFUL—
I have box
Paper
Elephant
A whole slew of mice
Girrrafe (I growl when I play with him)
And my most favorite of all things
LION!
I’m so glad to have Dad, and Mom, and Mindy!
TLC Cai-Cai
Chapter Twelve
There is a sadness Mom and I feel,
each and every day.
Sometimes one of us thinks we see
Boomer Beaglie Brown, but alas he is not there.
Although, I know something Mom really doesn’t know.
Boomer isn’t very far away.
Mom said she wonders if we animals live with the gift of ‘seeing’ and ‘knowing’ the other side.
Because of that knowing it isn’t so very hard for us to slip on over,
although, having to leave our furry bodies can be a tad rough.
Outside, where I truly like to live, it is still winter.
Some days the sun warms everything up nicely, somedays the heavy snow takes the joy from the warm.
Mice are still abundant. Mice are my favorite food. They never really seem to become sparse, although I do work at keeping them thinned out.
The coyotes are terribly brave. They come yipping and yapping in the yard, running down the farm road, they know our farm is just air and darkness, at night.
They know we are dog-less.
I weary of the coyotes, as does Mom.
Still, Life Goes On, the wind continues to blow, sometimes soft, sometimes a gale.
The moonlight filters through the tree branches, making the shadows look like cobwebs.
I feel and know that Boomer is here. Maybe not all the time, maybe not as much as he once was, for sure not like he was before he passed over the Rainbow Bridge, but still here.
Boomer, Mom, and I love you. We really do. Thank you for coming to help me. Your rare gifts of protection have been proof that you are here.
Thank you, my beagle dog-friend.
Thank you.
(Shamelessly stolen off the internet)
Mindy Min-Min Brown
February 4, 2021
