Cats and Other Important New Years Day Stuff

She awoke and eased into her new day on this New Year. She didn't have to be, do, or take care of anything. She was free to focus her attention on her New Year's resolution. Heaven knows She’s done it enough times that She should be an expert on thinking up New Year's resolutions. Since She was only three weeks old her first New Year She can safely say She doesn’t remember making (or breaking) any resolutions that year.  

Sure She’s made her share of resolutions to change this or that thing in her life. Things like lose weight, find a better job, workout more, eat healthier oh how the list goes on. Every year lately She’s given this whole resolution thing some amount of thought. While it’s true it’s been decades since She formally declared a resolution, She had quietly made a few (and quietly broken them).

This year She wants to try something different, something bigger or smaller, something important. She’d like to set herself up for success so the something needs to be obtainable. She can rule out things like win the lottery, travel the world and sculpt herself into something that resembles her twenty something self. No, this year She wants something else. What that could be She has no idea.  

Maybe She could learn a new skill or accomplish something important to her. She sat down and thought about skills She could learn. Nothing came of that so She thought about important things with nothing coming to mind. She was not in the mood to learn a new skill and She didn’t have the energy to do anything important. 

She was finding this task ridiculously difficult. Maybe it was time to google New Years resolutions. Was that cheating? She found herself wondering aloud to an empty room. She said, “Why can’t I just come up with something on my own?” The cat looked up and then licked her paw. So the room wasn’t entirely empty, just lacking in other people.

She found herself off task once again. She wondered why She thought of herself as She instead of she and why She thought of him as He instead of he.  She was going to do this her way and keep their names tucked away deep inside. She would use She and He not she and he. She knew why she thought of That Day as That Day instead of that day. She'd be keeping the tucked away too, even deeper down inside herself.

She had grown up the oldest of three children. She had married and raised two kids of her own. She had divorced but that wasn’t the day She fell into her deepest despair. As hard as that time was She would eventually learn worse was yet to come. 

After her marriage fell apart She met a man and fell deeply in love. She eventually moved in with him and his two sons. While they were much younger than her two grown children, everyone got along quite well. She was so happy people often thought She was drunk. She wasn’t drunk, She was just that in love with her life right up until That Day.  

During that glorious time of her life before That Day She didn’t put much thought into New Year's resolutions. Why should She? Things were as near to perfect as a person could get. Looking back fondly She couldn’t help but wish her New Year's resolution could be to go back at least seven years. She’d happily give up all the accomplishments She had made on her own to be able to go back to the time before That Day.  

She thought back to some of their boating adventures. Like the time they loaded lifejackets, a food cooler, a beverage cooler, towels, fishing poles, bait, tackle and got in the car to drive to Lake Minnetonka. When He turned the car around She asked, “What did we forget?” She couldn’t imagine what else they could possibly need.  

In a calm nonchalant voice He said, “The boat.”

She remembered one of the many times they went golfing. They were on hole three or maybe some other hole. It didn’t matter which hole. She took a powerful swing at the ball but couldn’t find where it had landed. Not only was She unaware of where her ball landed She had lost something else. She swung so hard her club flew away too. She asked, “Did you see where my club went?” 

Without saying a word He shook his head and drove away in the golf cart, leaving her to find her own golf club. Unsure just what to do She squinted her eyes and looked around. She heard a golf cart approaching. With delight She looked back expecting to see him. He wasn’t there but another golf cart pulled up with two men laughing hard. 

 “Are you looking for your club?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Well young lady you got a hole in one. Look up, your club is up in that tree.”

She wasn”t going to get anything done with her head in the clouds like this… She took another sip of coffee while She thought about his way with words. One night the first snowfall started. She said, “Look, isn’t the snow beautiful.”  

To him snow equaled a lot of work. He hated snow removal. He looked at her and said, “You’re all the beauty I need.” 

She shook her head and thought, “All this reminiscing isn’t going to help me figure out a worthwhile new years resolution.   

She got up and fed her cats. Ok She does live with two cats but is that enough to make her a crazy cat lady? Maybe, just maybe she decided.

To be fair her first cat picked her and her second cat would have probably died if She hadn’t taken it in. “No, I’m not being overly dramatic. It’s all true.” 

As She sipped on her coffee She thought back to the day She came home with her new roommate.  

A few months earlier than the day She got her roommate, She had been trying to get a kitten. The kitten lady did turn out to be a certifiable crazy cat lady. The kitten lady had so many cats the authorities shut her down before the kitten lady could fulfill her promise. Since She had waited so long She decided to take matters into her own hands.  

Her house had been so quiet then, too quiet. She missed him and all the joy He had brought into her life. They had been together for sixteen years. On That Day He was just gone. No warning, no time to do anything except find a way to live with half of her gone forever.

With as much determination as She could muster She got in her car and drove to the humane society. They were busy that Saturday in late October. She walked around thinking all the kittens were adorable. She would just walk past each one before She picked out her very own kitty to love.

She really wanted a kitty born on his birthday. She knew her kitty’s name. Her kitty would be Indy. After all She and He had met at Lake Independence. She wouldn’t name a kitty Lake Independence but She could and would name him or her Indy.  

As She walked further towards the back of the room She noticed the kitties were getting older and older. One of these older cats called out. She felt drawn to that cat and the cat seemed to be drawn to her.  

She looked at the details. Everything was right! This cat's birthday was the same as his birthday. Everything was perfect except they had the wrong name. She didn’t think that would be a problem either.  

She left carrying her fragile heart in a box. She had lived alone since That Day but from now on She would share her home with a twelve year old cat that She had now named Indy. She thought of Indy as her roommate.

For the next six years the two lived a quiet life together. Things changed when Peeps came along. Peeps was a stray so we were told she turned one in or around early October. That just happens to be when He had his birthday. 

Indy was eighteen years old and pretty set in her ways when Peeps entered Indy’s life. Before Peeps came to live with Indy, Peeps lived in her daughter's back yard as a homeless kitty. Her daughter fed her and eventually brought Peeps inside her home. However loving and sweet Peeps is to people, Peeps proved to be just the opposite towards other cats. Peeps could not stay in their house because Peeps tortured their other two cats. 

In a last ditch effort to save Peeps from possible death, her daughter's family brought Peeps to her house. They set the carrier down so Indy and Peeps could familiarize themselves with each other which they did.

“Oh for Pete sakes how is this going to help me think of a good New Years resolution?” At her utterance Peeps just left the room and Indy kept right on sleeping. She mumbled, “There is no easy way to come up with a quality, obtainable News Year's resolution. Perhaps I should just give up.” She didn’t want to just give up.

She wondered, “Just exactly what have I accomplished?” She reached down to pet Indy. "Well I have bought my house. That was not an easy feat. Is that an accomplishment or just something people do?" Indy just purred. She wasn’t sure about accomplishment or just a thing people do. She loved her house and was happy She owned it but it is after all just a thing.  

She had a lot of things updated in the house that She bought on her own. Well technically She had a little, ok a lot, of help from his sons. From new windows to new carpeting and floors she had made real progress with her new home.

While all of that was great her favorite update was her new garage door with an electric garage door opener. The old door was so heavy and hard to lift. Now She could go to the app on her phone and open her garage from the warmth of her living room. The ease in opening what once was a heavy garage door still made her smile.  

While all of these things brought her joy She didn’t think they were meaningful. She was searching for something meaningful, important and obtainable. Setting up a resolution to do home projects just wasn’t what She wanted for this fresh brand new year. She pondered again why She couldn’t come up with anything that fit her bill for a New Years resolution. She rejected the notion that a good New Year's resolution simply may not exist. 

While She sat staring out the window her mind wandered back in time. She remembered the day She brought her daughter home from the hospital. Such a tiny little bundle of joy. The love She felt transcended her entire being. She wondered if She was using the word transcended correctly so She looked it up. It said that it means to go beyond the limits. 

Yes that was how She had felt during that period of becoming a mom for the very first time. She had loved her daughter beyond the limits of love. There was nothing like it. This tiny human had completely stolen her heart. Nothing could compete until the day She welcomed her newborn son into the world. She held him and that feeling of an over abundance of love returned. Not that it had left but She felt it now for this new child, her son.  

Oh the joy of raising children. While not an easy task it sure brought her joy. At one time they had a small unofficial, kind of hobby farm. She thought about it for a moment. Yes, they had two children, three dogs, two cats, some fish, an iguana, a guinea pig and a lizard. To her that fit the bill of a small, unofficial, hobby farm of sorts.

She remembered how accustomed they got to having an iguana walk around the house. She didn’t find it strange at all until a new person came into the home and was scared, shocked or both when the iguana moved. 

She didn’t know She could love children as much as She loved her own until her son told her She would be a grandma soon. When She held her first grandchild She felt that old familiar burst of love. She felt it again when her next grandchild entered this world. This child gave her so much hope for a brighter future. She thought She had everything but then She was told another grandchild was coming. This grandchild would be born on her birthday. 

With him, two children, two step children, two in law children and three grandchildren she thought her world surely was complete now. Then her daughter told her She was going to be a grandma again. Against the odds this baby came into the world and this new baby swept her off her feet. Well maybe She should have guessed there could be more love, however, She certainly did not. Her daughter, who was told by doctors it was unlikely that a pregnancy would happen for them, was going to have her second baby. Soon there would be one more baby to love.  

As She bit into a leftover Christmas cookie She thought how sad it was that this baby came before He had a chance to even know her daughter was pregnant. When this baby came the love She felt helped her heal from the heartache of losing the He to go along with her She. It was a very hard time but her family as well as her friends helped her. The love She had for her children and grandchildren was as deep as it could be, not to mention the love She had for the rest of her family and her closest friends. 

She took another sip of her coffee and couldn’t stop herself from going down this road a bit further. She thought of the day She met His first grandchild. Even though the blood may not match the love is just as strong. She thinks She should know better than to think the love is now complete. Because the day came when She got to meet His second grandchild. Now She knows there can always be more love to go around.  

She held her empty coffee cup in her hand as She thought, “Well none of this is helping me come up with a loving, important, obtainable New Years resolution.”  

She looked out the window and watched the squirrels play in the yard. She saw a neighbor walk in the park. There was a light layer of fresh snow barely covering the ground. It sure has been a mild winter in Minnesota. One She knew He would have appreciated the extra time He would have been given to do anything instead of removing snow. 

She placed her coffee cup in the kitchen sink. She had just about given up on finding her new year's resolution when She thought more about 

Christmas. She reflected on what happened after everyone was done eating. They carried gifts down and placed them under the tree. The gifts were quickly delivered to the children as the adults watched. The younger children squealed with innocent delight. The older children were more discreet but their young faces shined with happiness.

The adults then played a trivia Christmas gift game. It was the first year they had tried it. She thought it went over rather well and hoped to continue with this as their new tradition. She liked how it seemed to bring loved ones even closer.  In her heart she believed He would have enjoyed this past Christmas.

She took another bite of the leftover Christmas cookie and thought about how much She wished He was here. She could feel him so She felt He was here, just in a different way now. He was there in that same, different way on Christmas. Like her He would have thought of all the grandchildren as ours. It’s not the blood that makes a family. It's the love.  

She was sitting on the couch enjoying her Christmas cookie. Indy looked at her and purred. Along came Peeps who cautiously placed herself on her chest. With Indy on her lap and Peeps on her chest She realized just what her New Year's resolution would be for this year. It was loving, important, obtainable and kind. Yes, her new resolution was perfect!  

She would get more cats!