A-Z CHALLENGE
Jubilant Joy with Jaime, Joey, Joshua, and Jesse
And here we come full circle back to the loves of my life: cats!
Y’all knew it! Y’all knew that I would eventually return to the subject of cats.
And now here we are — four of my adult loves.
Apart from my first kitty, Kirsty, when I was but a wee nipper, I have had four loves of my very own in my adult years.
Joshua
I always loved that name and was very happy to give it to the Seal Point Siamese that my ex and I got when we moved in together.
Joshy, as he was commonly called, was absolutely gorgeous and his long Siamese wails as he engaged in conversation delighted me to my core. I had never had a Siamese before and whilst many do not like the sound they make, I adored it.
He was a spoiled boy with two mammas that loved him dearly, but we were both gone during the day and thus decided that he needed a brother to keep him company.
Jesse
We brought this little bundle of pure joy home when Joshy was about eight months old.
My ex was adamant that she wanted another Seal Point but when we got to the breeder, it was the Chocolate Point with the big personality that scaled a wooden chair to let me know that he wanted to come home with us, that won the day.
She noticed his effort and couldn’t deny his charm, so a few minutes later he was snuggled in my arms as we embarked on the long drive home.
Jesse and I had a special relationship and he would wait for me every afternoon in the upstairs window of our townhouse watching for my car. My ex knew the moment I was home from work as he would come barrelling down the stairs yelling as he raced to the front door to greet me.
It broke my heart to leave them both when our relationship ended, especially Jesse, but I was starting anew in another city and had nowhere for either boy to live. I knew that my ex needed them far more in the wake of our break up, but it killed me to say goodbye.
I still remember Jesse sitting on the window sill.
Joey
Once settled into my new life, I couldn’t deny the calling for furry bundles of my very own so I set off for the local SPCA. This ginger extraordinaire caught my eye the moment I entered the large room.
He was such a cocky little fella as he strutted about that room and I instantly knew that he was coming home with me. Then I turned my attention to the rest of the mewling sprawl as I sought to find him a brother in the mass of fur swirling around me.
Jaime
I didn’t notice Jaime at first, but he noticed me.
Thankfully I had brought along a very astute friend who had watched him follow me around the room. As I squatted down to pet Joey, this black and white angel in fur settled underneath my left leg.
“You have to take him” my friend said, “he’s been following you the whole time; he’s chosen you”.
“Are you serious? I didn’t even notice him. He’s been following me this whole time?” I questioned.
“Yes, everywhere you’ve gone, he’s been a few steps behind you, and look at him now, he’s nestled underneath your leg.”
And that was that. He had chosen and the decision was made.
Jaime and I lost Joey to a hit-and-run in the middle of the night when they were only eight years old. Jaime and I spent an additional ten years together, most of it in Australia and then adding the US and Canada to our resumés.
In total, we lived on three continents in five countries before he crossed the rainbow bridge in early 2020.
You may have noticed that all four of these kitties were boys and that’s for a very specific reason, boy cats are known to be more loving than their female counterparts. Not always true but accurate in my experience.
I wouldn’t give up a second of the time I spent with all four of these angels in fur.
As I couldn’t find any more “J” posts, please find below some other great In Living Color photo articles I enjoyed.
Like René Beauchemin - [he/him]’s journey to Machu Picchu.
I have to include Mark Tulin’s adventures with window cats if I’m going to write about cats!
I thoroughly enjoyed Taimen’s post below. Excellent perspectives.
For less than a cup of coffee, you can support me and click here to purchase your copy of The Well-Travelled Cat.
