Ode To Those I Love Part III

The month of May entered our lives with grief and sadness. It seemed to be going out that way too. On Friday night I said goodbye to Kimo Kitty. Breaking the last bit of my tender heart. Sometime earlier in the week I had decided that he was it. We had another cat at home (Brother Boy, who I haven't really been fair too. He's a good cat. Actually very sweet. He just doesn't speak English or really know how to interact with humans.) and I just didn't want another one. I was through with pets for a while. When Lovey asked if we were going to get another cat I answered with an emphatic NO. I had made it quite clear to Chas & Lovey that Brother was more than enough and to not...even...ask!

It was Memorial Day weekend. Hot. Sad. Nothing could make me happy. That Sunday, Chas joined his regular group for his weekly round of golf. It was his first time to play after loosing Flash. The men he plays with are his true friends. They were all there for Chas at the memorial service. I am grateful for them. For the sake of Lovey, I tried to make it as normal a day as possible. We woke early. I finished my chores. We went to the market. I was hoping to bar-b-que with our neighbors, and maybe play some dominos. Some bit of routine. As I pulled in the driveway and parked, Chas came skipping out the door. (Let me tell you...my husband does not skip. He's a mans man. He does not wear his emotions on his sleeve. So to see him skip was something-especially in our current state of saddness). At the same moment, our neighbor Egg came skipping around the fence to my car. He's not a "skipper" either. So frankly, I was shocked. Why were these two men so excited to see me come home from the market? I was suspcious.

Chas joyfully says "We got you something!". This did not ease my suspicion. Chas is not one to spontaneously get me anything. And if Egg was involved either it was some sort of practical joke or something that was really for them under the cover of being for me. I cautiously walked into the house. What I found did not make me as happy as these too skipping excited man-boys. Hiding under a chair was this dirty thing that I could only guess was some sort of kitten. I turned around to the trouble makers and said "NO." However, when together, these two are no dummies. They knew if Lovey saw it, then we would have to keep it. Being smarter than them, I again said "NO" this time looking directly at Lovey. "You keep it." I said to Egg.

Apparently Egg & Lovey had discussed their presentation. Both know me quite well and know how to push my buttons. Both were familar with how Kimo entered my life and they were going to take full advantage of my weakness for the unloved.

They arrived at the golf course early in the morning as they normally do. One of their foursome had found kitten roaming around. He had also found a shoe box with some air holes poked in it nearby. Apparently someone had abandoned the poor thing in the park next to the golf course. The kitten was terrified and had hidden in the engine block of their friends car (a Lexus, this is important later). After several attempts to get it out, and their tee time fast approaching they finally gave up. Hoping that the cat would stay put until they were done. Well she did. Egg & Chas decided to bring her home. Hoping that either Egg's girlfriend Irish or I would want to keep it.

As they were telling me this story I sat staring at that tiny thing. She was a mess. It was clear that she was very young. Her eyes must have just opened. They were wide and glassy. Still a little blue. She was so dirty that she looked to be grey with black spots instead of the creamy white with cow dots that she is. She was literally covered in fleas. She had an absece on one ear. Whoever had choosen to abandon here hadn't been taking very good care of her.

Egg & Irish are cat people. At the time they had a very mean white Persian & a Bengal. Neither of them open to welcoming another cat into the house. It didn't seem as if this dirty little fur ball would be living next door. Between Irish & I we gave her about 4 baths and managed to get all of the dirt off and most of the fleas. A few heavy doeses of flea repelent and they seemed to dropping off quickly. There she sat, on our neighbors patio table. Wet, scrawney and just plain sad looking. Lovey & Irish starting naming her. Big mistake. If you name, you keep it. They decided that since she was found in a Lexus, she should be named Lexi. Reluctantly I agreed to keep her with us until we could get her to the vet's office and give her up for adoption. Wouldn't you know it, I called first thing Tuesday morning and they couldn't see her for a week. As it turns out, that was just the length of time she needed to make me hers.

Somehow Lexi knew that I was the most resistent to keeping her. Somehow she knew that it was I that finally allowed her to stay. She would creep up and sneak into my lap then flop as if all the bones in her body were gone, and quickly fall asleep purring. She would follow me around the house "talking" to me all the way. It wasn't long before she snuck into my heart. Now, she truly is my cat.


She is somewhat afraid of Chas and his big voice and rough hands. But if he's sitting still it's his warm lap she uses to nap. She is nervous around Lovey and his quick twelve year old body & ever growing feet, but sneaks into his bed at night to snuggle with him. I am her companion. She still follows me wherever I go. Chit-chatting about her day. We carry on conversations about whatever is on my mind. In the midst of packing to go where ever it is I'm going she never fails to start carrying things away or to crawl into the suitcase in an attempt to stop me from going. She loves it when I cook. She'll sit on the kitchen stool and yell at me until I pick her up to show her what I'm working on. She doesn't like "people food", she isn't interested in eating what I'm fixing, she just wants to know what is so important that it's taking attention away from her. When I take a shower she sits on the edge of the tub between the shower curtain & liner, fascinated by the water. Her legs seem to be made of springs. If there is a spider or moth in the house she become obsessed with it. More than once we have found her jumping at least four feet up a wall in attempt to catch watever flying thing she thinks she sees. Once, she jumped up on the cabinet holding the TV, then on top of the TV, then to the ceiling, only to slide all the way down the wall. She is quite the entertainer. She loves to play fetch, but only with me.


We live in a village in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains. It is not unusual to see coyotes or other wild life. For this reason we decided that Lexi would be an indoor cat (as is Brother). She loves to stare out the windows & watch the world. She is terrified of going out into it though. Once Egg's Bengal cat was sitting on a chair on our porch, hissing and growling at Lexi through the screen. Between the two of them, they hit the screen just right and it popped off. She fell out the window hanging on to the edge for dear life (she would have only fallen about a foot into the chair, no harm would have been done). She could not scramble to get back into the house fast enough. She spent the rest of the day hiding under the bed.

Today has become what we call our Lexiversary. When I say to to her "It's our Lexiversay!" She meows and shakes her head, then rubs against me. I think she is thankful too, for being rescued by us. While Lexi Dot (as she has come to be known) will never fill the void left by Flash and Kimo, she has done so much to ease the pain. She entertains and loves us. She is a tiny angel sent to ease our suffering.