The Lessons of furballs

When Alex died I was beyond devastated. I was adamant that I would never again in this lifetime own another pet. I couldn’t take the pain of losing them. I tried hard to honor that promise. I was offered several kittens, all of which I turned down. I loved that I could once again have plants in my apartment, I hardly had to vacuum compared to before and I saved a ton of money. But I was incredibly lonely and severely depressed. Several times I was offered a tiny orange kitten from my vet’s office and constantly turned them down. Finally they took matters into their own hands. I went to their office for one reason and ended up coming home with a little orange boy named Finnegan.

Right away I knew he was trouble with a capitol T; full of more energy than all of my pets I’d ever had put together! It was very difficult to go from having Alex, who was always such a good girl, to Finney the little brat. He sure served his purpose and kept me extremely occupied. In fact he was so bad I thought on more than one occasion of giving him back. I’d never had more than one pet at a time before but knew I needed to do something drastic. So I got him a little girlfriend. I went to the rescue league and looked for hours. I was about ready to give up when this little tuxie kitten came down to see me from her climbing tree. She was cute, spunky and playful, very friendly and got along well with other kitties. It was time to take the plunge, so she got herself a new home.

The two of them fell in love within days and have been inseparable ever since. Recently a friend reminded me of some funny stories I’ve shared over the last four years of these two. They’ve always been double the trouble but triple the laughs. It didn’t take me long to realize there were some lessons here for me. What Alex had taught me was pure and untainted love. I’d always wanted to know what that felt like but never thought I’d receive it from a cat. That was her lesson to me; to let myself be loved and accept it fully. Even with the pain that comes from losing that love. The broken heart I had was worth every second I spent with her.

The lesson I’ve learned from Finney and Lacey is to let yourself laugh again. I mean really laugh, straight from your gut until you cry laughing. These two are like living with a comedy show. Lacey can do a mid-air back flip like I’ve never seen a cat do before. Finney teases her, chases her, makes her hiss and swat him. She runs like the road runner throughout the house and knocks him down; not knowing what hit him, he does a double take. (People that say cats don’t have expressions on their faces have never seen these two). He sneaks up on her and she jumps straight up in the air at least three feet and will make this insane meowing sound before chasing him throughout the house. One of my favorite things things in this world is to watch them play.

But mostly I love to watch them lying on the bed smooching and grooming. They'll make out for the longest time until they finally go to sleep. They are the perfect fit and I’m sure my Alex had something to do with that. They make me happy and even though she’s gone, Alex hasn’t stopped being my teacher. The lesson? I can’t and I shouldn’t live without love and laughter no matter what the cost; even if it comes with a couple of big furballs of trouble. LOL.