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A Story for the New Year

January 1, 2014

I once had a tiger cat named Antonio. He was a special cat in many ways.
Antonio

One of those ways is that he did not speak. Antonio made his presence known, certainly, but as far as I knew, he could not meow.

He would often open his mouth as if he were going to speak, but no, only silence emerged.

I had had Antonio several years before I got a catnip plant. Antonio, as cats tend to do, enjoyed the catnip. He and my other cat enjoyed the plant to death – they knocked it from the shelf on the front porch and ate it down to nubs.

When I opened the front door the next morning, I spied a broken pot, a pile of dirt and roots, and two tired, marble-eyed cats.

I let several years go by before I got another catnip plant. After giving the cats a few sprigs, I put the plant in a spot where they absolutely could not reach it.

Antonio walked over beneath the plant, sat down, looked at me, and said, in a very clear and distinct voice, “Meow.”

Lesson: When you want something bad enough, you’ll find the voice to ask for it.

5 Comments
  1. January 2, 2014 10:21

    This reminds me of the joke about the kid who never spoke until the day his mom burned the toast. “Up until now, everything’s been fine.”

    Antonio looks a lot like my cat, who I still miss. When I first met her, I thought she couldn’t meow either but she soon let me know that she could and loudly, in my ear, at 4:00 in the morning. And I still miss that too.

  2. January 2, 2014 10:54

    I love this! So true. And a good lesson for us all.

  3. January 2, 2014 23:49

    Yay, Suebob!

  4. January 3, 2014 05:12

    A simple story with an amazing message. I needed that!

  5. January 6, 2014 10:09

    Hah! He was awesome.

    Last time I was between apartments I took my 2 cats to live with me, a friend, and her 2 cats. Sometimes we’d sprinkle catnip on the living room floor and just sit back to be entertained. Stoned cats are hilarious!

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