Part Two – Living with Angel
While Angel was the smallest of our cats, she was the one
that was impossible to ignore. That was because she refused to have the humans
ignore her.
Our other two cats Midnight and Sterling tolerated Angel but
were not enamored with her, especially Midnight who was the “Queen” as we called
her and liked to have a quiet life. Angel, was everywhere, always causing
mischief. Sterling stood his ground with her, so it was a standoff.
Angel’s forte was not in cultivating feline relationships
but in cultivating human relationships. All our family and friends knew Angel
because she was part of every family party or a friend’s visit. She would walk
around and jump on laps or curl up to our friends and cuddle whether they were
cat people or not. Some guests felt so honored that a strange cat would find
them so special and give them attention. They thought that Angel thought that
they were special. We did not have the heart to tell them that she did that
with all our guests and that you were no more special than anyone else in her
eyes. Yet I can’t argue that by her doing that she made our guests feel
special.
Even though I saw her make everyone believe that they were
special because she chose to snuggle with them, even if it was not so and she
was just using them. While I was onto her game it does not mean that I was not
immune to her charm. One of our evening
routines was that she would snuggle in cozy with my wife on the couch, while my
wife read her book or Kindle. When I entered the room and sat in the recliner
across the room Angel would pop up her sleepy head and look longingly at me. My
wife would say sarcastically “Oh your boyfriend is here. Now you are going
to leave me!” Which Angel would promptly do, sometimes in a sleepy stupor,
and she looked drunk walking over and jumping on my lap. I think she knew I was
one who was easily taken in and would do anything if she showed me affection. Which admittedly is completely true. She was
training me to be her servant and succeeding. Proof of that will come in the
following blog.
She was so present with company that sometimes people
thought she was our only cat. They would ask “You have other cats too?”
They couldn’t remember their names, however. Angel, though, was easy to
remember.
Angel had a way of making us all laugh even when what she was doing was wrong. I would find her sleeping in weird positions and places. Once with her head between both legs in her butt. Other times with her head plopped straight down in front of her. Often in the laundry basket. We had more pictures of her in strange positions than I can count. At the end of the day, we would exchange photos of what Angel was doing.
It should be mentioned that one of her weird sleeping spots
caused me my first broken bone in my life. In the early morning hours, one day
I was carrying my suit with me down the stairs from the bedroom in the dark. I
did not want to wake others by turning on the light. In any case as I walked
down the stairs I stepped on Angel and then tumbled down the stairs, breaking a
bone in my hand. I almost got mad at her.
Yet when you were down Angel also had the instinct to know
when to cuddle with you. This is one reason pet owners love their cats or dogs.
When other people are causing you pain, you know your pet is dependable and
will love you. While Midnight and Sterling did this too Angel was content to
spend hours with you. A truer friend could not be found.
Yet she was mischievous. If there was going to be a cat that
jumped on the dining room table for a bite of roasted chicken, it was Angel. If
there was a cat that would jump into the Christmas Tree, it was Angel. If there
was a cat that would annoy the other cats it was Angel. We found ourselves
yelling Angel’s name more than all the other cats and human names combined. She
was the annoying little brother who created chaos. Yet we all secretly loved
her even more for that crazy personality.
Angel had a bad habit of never retracting her claws. So,
when she jumped on your lap in the summer it could be painful. During COVID I
was doing a remote interview with the governor of New Jersey. While I had a
shirt and tie on for the camera, I was wearing shorts since it was the summer.
Angel jumped on me during that interview and it took all the composure I could muster
not to wince. Later in her life we would find her claws stuck on the carpeting
going to the second floor or hanging off the couch with her claws stuck on the
couch covering.
We all depended more on Angel after Sterling passed. We now
had two opposite cats, Midnight who was a cat happy to be left alone with her
human family and very solitary and Angel who to be frank was a diva.
Yet that diva showed us all that she was not all about
herself. When Midnight started to deteriorate, Angel surprised us. You see they
had always just tolerated each other. Yet Angel seemed to sense that Midnight
was nearing the end. All of a sudden, we saw her sleeping next to Midnight. We
were shocked but it did our hearts good. Midnight was our first pet and very
special to us. I have written about my love for Midnight as well. (Sorry
Sterling but I was not writing my thoughts when you were with us.)
Angel’s small change of affection towards Midnight made her
death easier for us. She was instinctively helping us deal with her death.
Yet after Midnight passed, I saw a change in Angel. She was
no longer a frisky cat with a pep in her step. She was an older cat who was
slowing down. I realized that she was no longer young and was seventeen years
old. Having a young cat or dog is
different than having a geriatric pet. More would be demanded of us to repay
her for all the love she had shown us.
Part 3 – Saying Goodbye to Angel
