| Freddy's
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| Freddy was
probably born on June 4, 2003, or maybe June 24. I met him on August 3,
2003, the same day my heart and soul, Rock the Gentleman cat died at the
hospital at the age of nearly 17. Surely one cat does not replace another, no cat or kitten will ever replace Rock in anyone's heart, especially mine. We went with open minds, not knowing if we would find our animal that day, if it would be a cat or a dog or two or three or an iguana or a monkey. We met Freddy at the second place we went looking, the first was the ASPCA, which I heartily recommend for a visit. In NYC, the ASPCA is a "no-kill" shelter, as I understand the Humane Society is as well. The animals have a pretty decent living situation there, caring staff, bright and sunny and playful, not a death camp. We left the ASPCA guilt free having left a donation and getting a lot of hope. It was comforting to see cats that looked similar to Rock, and there were kittens but they were all female - there were some kittens being prepared for spay/neutering that we were going to come see later. Rock's Daddy is Dean, one of the best pals and people I know on Earth. We went looking together. Next stop, the Center for Veterinary Care. Here they had one of two found kittens left. They brought him into a room, I took one look at his little clown face and I knew. I looked at Dean and before I could say anything, Dean said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?". Dean had been pushing me to check out some kittens a friend had but all thoughts of other kittens were pushed out of our heads by Freddy's big hairy paws. His name came from a Rock and Roll animal I knew who died in December of 2000. You can read more about Fred Sessler, Freddy's namesake in any rock and roll book you have on your shelf. We came out to the receptionist to claim our kitten and found one of the Rolling Stones' managers also waiting there, I recognized this friend from the tour. A friend of Freddy's. A sign maybe. Anyway, we were going home with this kitten. Not so fast... they would not let us take the kitten. The rescuer wanted to have final say over who adopts the kitten and she wasn't available. Well, find her. Either this kitten was coming home with me, or I would be staying at the hospital with the kitten, nothing was going to separate us. And to be truthful, I needed this kitten. The loss of my beloved cat was overwhelming and nothing except Freddy was able to distract me from shedding huge salty tears and reliving every moment of Rock's last weeks wondering if I could have, if I only could have... After 90 minutes of holding a kitten in a waiting room (try that some time... it aint easy) they found the rescuer and relented. And so we came home, and Freddy settled right in to Rock's old toys and gear. It was as if Rock had set up house for Freddy, and he appreciated it. Freddy was so tiny he would disappear into spaces between books on shelves, into the crack between the stone and the kitchen sink cabinet, into holes the idiot contractors had left in my walls. I should mention here the legion of friends who were helping me through this, sharing with me the stories of the animals they had loved and lost and found. I will share some of them here. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~ So, here begins the story of Freddy, on his own pages. August 14, 11 days after I brought him home, the Blackout hit NYC. Just before the Blackout, Fred checked out my fridge: 
 OK, I get to wake up with this, it took a little bribery to get him to sleep with me.  Freddy only gave me a moment of picture taking before he started to chase the camera strap. Then he starts running all over the house. Very hard to concentrate on anything else. Good!  Do ya think he has enough toys?  He's so small I have to break up even the kitty treats for him to eat. He could fit in the water bowl. Oh Mom, do you have to take pictures of everything I do? Hey kitten, you have your job, I have mine.  Freddy's favorite place becomes sitting on the felt cover on the piano.  Freddy's favorite pastime is getting tangled up in whatever wires he can find. He finds LOTS of wires in the house, chews on them, pulls everything down, cameras, ethernet hubs, one day he found a camera lying on a set of stairs, grabbed the strap in his teeth and ran down the stairs dragging the camera behind him like Linus' blanket, banging and crashing on every step.    If he weighed more than 3.5 pounds he could pull the TV down in this tangle of coaxial cables. Playplayplayplayplayplayplay... sleep.  Fighting to keep his eyes open in a beam of light on a pile of coaxial cables. His idea of a good place to sleep. Cats teach you to look at life differently. One could say this was a silly place for him to sleep, on a pile of cables in a beam of sunlight. Or, one could say how silly it is for me to waste a nice sunlit spot with a pile of coaxial cables. I tidied up the cables the next day.  Look at how big his paws are! He is going to be GIGANTIC. Gargantuan cat. He walks like a clydesdale.   The little red starfish hasn't got a chance with my kitten. It was the first toy he played with when he arrived. He stood on his hind legs and juggled it. Really. From the first day, he came to me when I called his name. This is the only way I made it through the first couple days and weeks, and how I make it through every fat wet tear that forms in my eyes every time I think of Rock. This, and the support group on email. Pictures 8/23 to 8/27 Fred is an avid gardener   Unfortunately, a planter full of dry soil resembles a litter box...  So I watered the plant... and then some...   Pictures 8/27 to 8/29 Every day is different with a kitten. No routine. He's growing fast in size and in knowledge. Now he's chasing rainbows cast by crystals I have hung in the south windows.       He's a rainbow kitten.  I want to be with him all the time, each day he discovers something new. He's doubled in size since I brought him home, you can see that in these photos. |
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