Friday, January 30, 2009

Maggie, a plate and books

Even today I catch myself saying "my cats" or "I have two cats" when in actuality I don't have two kitties anymore. I only have one. I got Maggie and Mocha in 1996. A woman came to my sisters garage sale when I happened to be there and I was saying that I wanted to get a cat again. This woman spoke up and said that her litter of kitties were ready to go and if I wanted, I could come by and pick one out.

I first spotted Maggie because the way the black wound around her eyes like a bow. I loved the deep dark coloring that she had. She also clung on to me for dear life when I held her up to make sure she really was a girl. I wanted to take all of the kitties home, that's for sure, but Maggie was my first pick.

I needed to have a sister for Maggie. I wanted two girls. I checked all the other kitties and found three more girls. I looked at them all and there was this one that was scared to death. She kept trying to hide. She was so skittish and I loved her immediately. She was lighter in all of the colors - just as Maggie's colors were rich and dark, this kitty was lighter. I chose her and named her Mocha.

Well, in 2006 our lovable, 28 pound Maggie, who loved Tom with all her heart, died. Tom had his liver transplant Dec of 2005 and he was just starting to be able to be with the kitties again when Maggie died. We'd been through a hell of a year and to lose Maggie was a lot to take in. Everyone knew about how much we loved Maggie and so my friend made this plate to commemorate her. Isn't it beautiful?!!

She made it at one of those paint-your-own-pottery places. On the back she signed her name and put Maggie's name and year. I thought it was such a lovely thing to do for us! She told me right away that she made the plate and I've looked forward to seeing it since that very day.

Last Friday, exactly a week ago today, I received a box of books and the Maggie plate. My friend finally got the commemorative plate mailed to me, that she had lovingly painted 2 years earlier. In a way, I'm glad it took a few years, because now I probably won't burst into tears each time I see it.

I love the plate!! Thanks Bob!!

I also look forward to reading these books, too. My friend is an English teacher and an avid reader, so I'm excited to read what she picked out for me.

Have any of you read any of these books? If so, let me know what you think!

Have a fabulous weekend!
Kristin

3 comments:

Ruth Ann said...

Sorry to hear about your cat! They are both just sooo cute! I love cats, I had two a few years ago but had to get rid of them when I brought my son home from the hospital. They would stalk him and whenever he was crying they would growl and make weird noises...it freaked me out, so I found a family who would take them both.

No, I haven't read any of those books listed....but I do like drinking dandelion wine! lol

country girl said...

Very eclectic group of books. I find that Garrison Keillor is best listened to rather than read. I will pursue these books to see if I would enjoy them. Losing kitties is so hard. Been there, done that, adopted two more.

"J" said...

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I love the plate!!!! How very SWEET!!!!!

I agree with you...it's a good thing it came 2 years late!!!!! =)