I am sad today. Hubby runs a bait and tackle shop and a year or two ago a cat had adopted them. It was really quite funny, considering the personalities of the guys (let’s remember, hubby has said to me many times that I have a better chance of seeing him get a period than of getting a cat)…so in walks this little gray kitty. she was feral, so obviously timid. but slowly she started warming up to the place. I think she realized she quite possibly had stumbled right into kitty heavan….fresh seafood every day! Does it get any better than that?
I continuously asked hubby about kitty, and he always shrugged it off, as if he didn’t care. One day I stopped into the shop, and there was a little plastic dish on the floor. what’s that? I asked. he told me Vinny (the tough Jersey boy who runs the show in the morning) had brought it in for the cat. hmmmm, interesting. Next time I stopped in, there were cans of food, and a tray with milk in it. the next trip was by far the most classic…..there was a string tied to a nail, with a little toy attached to it. what is that thing?! *sigh* that’s the toy Vinny made for Shadow. ummmmmm, who is shadow?????? hanging his head and mumbling, hubby informed me that they had named kitty Shadow. Awwwwwww!!!!! The kitty cracked the tough exteriors! ha! take that!
And so Shadow slowly made the shop her home, and eventually gave birth to a whole bunch of adorable babies that we all got to watch grow. Once she was done being a mom, we took her in to get her fixed, and then back to the shop she went, wrapping all those men right around her paws. After she had her babies, I called her mama, because for being such a young cat, she was such a good mama. I always chased poor mama around, desperate for some kitty love. eventually, she learned that I was not deranged, and I only wanted some snuggling, and she would give in and let me scratch her and nuzzle her.
Mama would greet the guys every single morning, waiting patiently at the door, looking out, and as soon as they unlocked the door, she would prance out to do the obligatory kitty leg rub. She would play with all the toys that the guys would buy her….because they bought her plenty. and she would chase any dog that was foolish enough to enter the shop….including the pugger 🙂
Saturday, Mama was hit by a car. I am so sad about it. I know she was only a "shop cat"….but anyone that knows me knows that I am a crazy animal lover….and mama was the closest thing I had to a pet cat. I loved her.
Losing mama made me realize how vulnerable life is. So I took the camera out, and took some shots of my fur-babies.
yes, her eyes really are that yellow 🙂
kulik photography 