Literally!!
When I had surgery it was during the big snowstorm so no one from my family was able to come in and be with me. I came home on Friday and Mother and Daddy came to my house on Saturday. My mother could not stand it. I was glad to have them. They took good care of me that weekend.
But here's the deal. Mother had surgery in October of 2009. There was a moment when it was just our nuclear family there. Mom, Dad, my brothers and I. We were having a great time just talking. I mentioned that I wanted a pet but couldn't afford a fence for a dog (I'm in the city limits. Leash law.). So I was thinking about a cat. Lance immediately said I could forget about his kids coming to spend the night if I got one (allergies). The next day Mother said Daddy told her about the same thing. My family is not a big fan of the cat. Well, I called a couple of my friends and told them. (I really wanted a pet.) I'd even posted on facebook that I was considering it and one friend told me she had 3 horses, 3 dogs and 3 kids, which ones did I want?! I digress. Pam told me that I could just board the cat or she'd babysit when they came over (then she went and got a dog!). Vicki said, "Oh, they will not" (not come). Still I waited.
In January 2010, Rita told me about a cat hanging out at her daughter's house and they couldn't take it in. I got the cat. I brought it home and it immediately went under the couch. After a couple of days it came out and we started getting acquainted. Cat needs a name. It's a black cat, so I think Othello. But I don't know what sex it is. I really felt that on such short acquaintance it was not the proper thing to go examining the cat's privates to see what it was. But after a week, I felt it was okay. SHE was not Othello, so I went for Ophelia.
Ophelia has now been with me for a year. She's wonderful company and we have a lot of fun together. She is very funny and a social butterfly. On canasta and Bible study nights, she comes out to play. She goes from lap to lap and for some odd reason she really likes purses. I have not been able to train her to lift any money though.
During this past year my parents have been to my house twice, my niece and nephew once, and my niece again another time. Now lest you think my parents don't visit me enough, Mother has cancer and has been undertgoing treatments so she really hasn't been able. I have boarded Ophelia three times and since one visit from the parental unit was not known until they were on their way, Pam did an emergency babysit. This also involved hiding the food dishes, litter box and all toys each time.
So for an entire year I have managed to keep any mention or evidence of existence of my cat from my family. Only once did I let it slip. My cousin, Joyce, was riding with me to Guin and I said something about Ophelia. I swore her to secrecy.
Now for the weekend after surgery when my parents came up. They had no idea. I couldn't exactly hide her or board her. I mean I just had my knee replaced. So, I figured it was time. It had been a year after all. Mother was in the kitchen, I was in the bedroom, Ophelia was in her new favorite place - the cabinet over the refrigerator (I don't have doors on my cabinets). She had been there for about 3 hours at this point and no one had noticed her. Apparently she decided it was time to make her presence known and she moved to the top of the fridge. I hear my mother squeal and say there's a black cat in here. I said, oh, yeah, Mom, by the way...
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