My Happy Family

Our Uncle Steve has been posting a lot of very old stuff on his blog, so we figured we would too. It's easier than coming up with new stuff. It's like reruns. Remember those? That was when there was nothing good on television, so they just made you watch the same old stuff over and over again. Then someone realized the old stuff was better than the new stuff. And that is how the I Love Lucy Channel was born. This is a story I wrote a long time ago in a neighborhood far, far away. I was a lot younger when I wrote this, and I had not yet become a world-class philanthropist (I don't know what that is, but I like the sound of it. I think it has something to do with making people laugh). It's still a true story, so here it is. An old, old story. A rerun. Now I have to go because they are showing my favorite reruns on Animal Planet.

My name is Figaro. I'm seven (4th life, 7th year) and my brother Jett is only four (first life). We never really talk about it, but we are both adopted. I was living at the SPCA lodge when I was adopted, and Jett was virtually snatched from the jaws of a hungry coyote. Well, that's an exaggeration, but the coyote was close enough to scare him, even though he won't admit it.

A couple of years ago, Dad went on disability so he could stay home and play with us. At first it was so nice. Then we started to notice how sad he was all the time. He stayed in bed most of the time and cried a lot too. Nothing seemed to help. Daddy's vet said he should stay home because of AIDS and that it was not funny. We know that Dad is always up to date on his shots, but sometimes bad things happen anyway. Not even catnip mouse toys can help. We were worried.

On top of that, none of our uncles came over to play anymore. Dad said it was because they died. That means they moved to another place where the food is better. We both stayed with Dad all the time and took care of him and played with him. If it wasn't for us needing to be fed every morning, he might never have gotten out of bed at all. So we tricked him. Once we got him out of bed and had breakfast, we would get him excited by racing around the house. He's not good at playing tag and he doesn't fit under the furniture, but he's very playful anyway. After we play, we let him pet us and that always makes him so happy.

People underestimate how much work it is to make your Dad happy. Lots of cats just mind their own business. They figure as long as their bellies are full, why bother. It's a big job to take care of our Dad. But it's worth it just to look into his eyes and know he's happy again. We know he loves us as much as we love him.

Last year, Daddy's vet said he could go back to work. He's taking these special people treats that make his HIV's behave. When he started work again we missed him a lot. But the good part is he gets out of bed all by himself. He serves us our breakfast without any coaxing. We play and sleep all day long while he's away, and when he comes home we're all so happy to see each other again. Jett even jumps up off the floor and Dad catches him in midair. Best of all, we still cuddle up together in bed every night and none of us is scared of bad dreams anymore.

Jett and Dad and me are a very happy family, and we'll stay here together for always, even if the food is lousy.

Love,
Figaro

A New Venture for some busy cats

So, we were just lounging around on our bed after Daddy left for work this morning, wondering what we could possibly do to keep ourselves and all of our millions of adoring admirers entertained. This is what we came up with. A blog. If Arianna Huffington can do it, so can we.