Weekend Wordsmith - Lucky - July 12, 2009

My son was leaving for work early one Saturday morning in October a few years back. When he got outside he heard this plaintive meowing. The sound was weak. He came and got me and we started our search for the little sounds.

We found 3 newborn kittens laying on the ground under the hood from an old Weber grill. Two of the kittens were on top of the smallest one. There didn't appear to be any mother around. These babies were half frozen from being out in the cold of a Minnesota October morning.

My son and I brought the babies into the house. He called work to explain why he was late. He got out the heating pad, while I grabbed a laundry basket. We placed the babies in the basket on top of the heating pad and then covered over the basket with a towel. My son left for work and I became a nurse.

All three babies survived their rough entrance into this world. Eventually Lucky and her sister Dawn came to live in our house. We named her Lucky for obvious reasons. We named Dawn, Dawn because her baby fur stuck up like Don King's does.

Lucky was a rascal. She was a thief. She like to steal my husbands pens off his night stand. If there weren't any pens there, she would try and take them right out of his pocket. When the pens ceased to be a challenge she resorted to trying to steal his glasses. One time his glasses did disappear. About 3 weeks later I woke to a noise at the foot of the bed. Lucky playing with the glasses. When she saw me the look on her face said, "What?"

We had three other cats in the house at that time, but for Lucky and Dawn all they needed was each other. The vet had diagnosed them with feline leukemia. Dawn got sick with it when she was almost three years old. She died in my arms on a September morning, with Lucky looking on. Lucky died 2 weeks later. I know she died of a broken heart.

We were very Lucky to have Lucky in our lives. She was a special kitty. One that will never be seconded.