A Tale of Two Cats

When you arrived, my older, female cat, already lounging on the couch, was more than happy to accept any and all attention you had to offer. While she spent some time in my lap, it was often only as a gateway to getting back into your lap. When you and I were together, when I lived back home, she knew your touch almost as much as she knew mine. But it has been years since that time and we wonder outloud if she actually remembers you or if she just likes to be petted by someone new.

My younger, male cat, however, is much much more wary. He spends the entire time you are there hiding under the couch where we sit. Just before you leave, because you want to see him as well, we search all his usual haunts, calling his name. He doesn't volunteer his presence. When I finally find him, hold him in my arms, he allows you to pet him, but doesn't offer any affection. At first I wonder if he just doesn't like another male on his territory, but just last week he readily jumped into the lap of my relatively newly-adopted male cousin who he'd never met. I start to wonder if he does remember you and isn't just showing the caution I should have been showing all this time.

I'm reminded again of how grateful I am that I don't have children, especially that I am not currently a single parent, with the responsibility of judging who to bring into their lives and when, and what to tell them if/when that person leaves their life. I'm still not good at judging those things for myself and still seem to tell myself that things will be different this time. Maybe they will be. Maybe they are.