Lena, the cat in the photo, is 16 years old and the model for some of mama’s artwork! And mama’s friend, Gabriella, has an older cat called Frumi who is getting even older and was at home alone and feeling a little blue, so mama’s friend found Frumi a home with other kitties here in Rome where she can interact and play and feel loved and wanted; she even had a birthday party after she got there (I saw the little cat cake in a photo!) and the nice family, who adores kitties, sang to her. I have to say, she looks like a changed kitty. Plus the family has those cat jungle-gyms all over the house for the kitties to play on!! Lucky felines getting spoiled rotten. What a life!
I’m wondering, is this place sort of like those places that humans have to go to when they don’t remember things well? For example, I don’t remember if I slept 10 hours or 12 hours on any day, not to mention forgetting what I had for breakfast or lunch or dinner over my lifetime! And I have a few grey hairs on my forepaws and one little grey streak in the middle of my back. Does this mean I’m old and forgetful? At TWO?
Mama and papa kid about going to one of those places, god forbid, they say, except that there they will be with no memory to speak of, either of them, and they talk about how sad it would be, intolerable, really, to not have one’s memory of one’s mate, but if they were together in a place for people with no memory and they ran into each other, they would instantly fall in love all over again, being strangers, and so the rest of their lives would be hunky dory!
That’s what they talk about sometimes.
I don’t want to be an old kitty too soon, but I don’t want to miss my old age either as so many people seem to want to do. No haunch lifts or ear-fixes for me, honey!
When I’m infirm and creaking around, mama and papa will give me tidbits of good things and pet me even more than they do now and I’ll lie on my little down comforter and give directions to everyone about how to make my golden years more comfortable and I’ll remember all the sweet things that made up my life and be grateful for love, a kind family, and my friend, Tod, the Jack Russell. And Rughetta—-that’s my other new friend here in Rome.
We’ll grow old together and love every moment.
