The first thing I do in the morning is put on my sunglasses. Only then do I open the curtains and window to smell the morning air. As the day before, Boris, the cat from next door, sits on the roof of a shed. I say hi and start babbling something non-sensible.
Meanwhile, in our garden, at hearing my voice, someone else appears. We look at each other and he comes charging up the garden path until he is below my bedroom window, greeting me with a heart-melting meow.
Bring out the Shovel
Yes, we got cats! Indeed, indeed, plural. And they are ever so lovely to have around. Amazingly, I can enjoy them despite the fact that it adds to my partner’s long list of household chores. He is the one who mostly feeds them, and he is definitely the one who takes care of their litter box.
I use the word ‘amazingly’ deliberate, because I’ve got a pile of disability guilt so high you need a shovel to handle it. My partner hardly ever complains, but being ill for fifteen years both people I know and people I don’t know have made me wonder if they thought I was ill to annoy them.
All of this is immediately forgotten every time I find him on the floor like a cat stretching out next to… yup, next to one of the cats lazily stretched out.
The one I already mentioned is Mars. It took him a few days to get accustomed to his new surroundings, but from then on he was so sweet. He really is a playboy, lying on his back being all handsome, and flirting with me. If he could wink, he would.
And there is Luna who – like Mars – is very taken in with our garden. Yet it took her over a month to figure out how to get to the garden next door, while the only obstacle is a fence lower than the garden table they both often sit on.
Being gone for only a couple of minutes the first few times, she was filled with excitement whenever she came back. If she could, giggle she would. From then on she would be away for hours at a time, leaving me wondering if Luna, Boris and the two chickens who also live there had set up a poker game.
Best Friends
Will you believe it took me longer than it took Luna to jump that fence to realize there was more to life than disability guilt? I’m not defined by what I am physically capable of. People matter regardless they can clean or not. We are fellow human beings, not human doings. We are interconnected through who we are, not by what we do.
And my partner and I are helping out a friend, a rarity for me. Lodging two cats might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but cats happen to be right up my alley. Presently, we are a happy family of four.
When I retire for the day, halfway through the evening, Mars and Luna often come upstairs with me. He will be on the floor, while Luna settles herself on the bed all purring and kneading. On few occasions she will even lay close to me so I can easily pet her and every time I stop she will nudge me with her paw or head to keep scratching her ears. If I could leap for joy, I would =^.^=
- Mars And Luna Individually
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