Sandi

Sandi: Catness, Personified

In memory of our dear departed pet kitty, Sandi.

Please note that there are comments included from Maryann and emails contents noted by their different text colors scattered throughout. This may be a little lengthy being a story, but we hope you will read all of it as there was a lot to tell. We welcome your comments.

A little background

The beginning seems like a good place to start, as the end was much too soon. My wife Maryann and I have always had a love of animal companions. Now we are especially fond of cats. Two of our cats we’ve had for 13 and 14 years. Many folks think of them as furtive, and finicky and stuck-up. What they are is subtle. This they are, and so much more. The "independent" moniker given them also fits but only to a degree. After all, it is usually the cat that actually chooses the person when one gets down to the truth.

I am fond of several sayings regarding cats:

"No one ever "sort-of" liked a cat. Either they are cat lovers, or not".

	"Of the millions of cats in the world, they all exactly opposites"
	"A bad cat is a terror to everyone, but one really good one can make up for all of them"
	"Want to make friends with a cat? Ignore it."

"There is nothing like petting a cat to lower your blood-pressure"

"One can never have too many cats"

My apologies to anyone I may be quoting, here, but the first four are mine. Take them if you like. Cats teach you that kind of give and take.

Maryann and I are cat lovers. We are fond of dogs, too, but don’t have any right now. Maryann formerly raised Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. She even showed them and often her dogs brought home the blue ribbons at shows. A lot of work. Modern day life-style (ours included) precludes this sort of thing for many people. Multiple cat households have an advantage, and cats are really good at taking care of themselves when left alone. Besides, they sleep a lot. Our situation here in our new home brought us together with more cats than you can count on all your fingers and toes, including the original two: Maryann’s Cassie, and my JoJo. These two cats have NEVER gotten along in over ten years together. That’s another story yet to be written.