Stumble
Remembering our Cat
Numerous times during the summer months, our three young daughters, and their Daddy
and I, loved to go out in our back yard at eventide as then the high temperatures of
the day had cooled, and we were enjoyably comfortable.
That particular evening, the girls had spread their favorite Indian blanket on the
grass and were lying on it and happy talking, while waiting for it to get dark enough
to search for the first star. As long as it was light enough, their Daddy read the
day's newspaper while I tried to do some much needed mending.
Darkness soon draped the evening with night, and we put the mending and newspaper
on a little table nearby.
It was quite relaxing just to let go and listen to our very entertaining young girls
who had by then happily discovered the first star and were chanting:
Twinkle, twinkle little star.
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
like a diamond in the sky."
But, before they were finished with their chant, a faint "meow" interrupted them!
The sound was coming from the tall grass along the side of the road, and the girls
ran to find where the "meow" was coming from. Winifred Jean spied the kitten first,
but Elizabeth Ann picked it up. It was so very little and frightened, but a bit of
cuddling and gentle stroking calmed it. Excitedly, they came running to their Daddy
and me to show us the beautiful kitten. He truly was a picture with beige hair blended
with a crop of white hair atop his head and an all-white front.
It was evident that he was starved, so I told my girls to warm some milk for him, and
that they could use the paste-board box on the back porch for his bed, "But as soon as
he was in better condition," I warned them, "you must find someone who wants a nice pet,"
because we just couldn't get attached to another pet! You see, our beloved dog, Jack,
had just been killed by a speeding car only a few weeks before, and after having him
for almost eight years, it was so hard to give him up. We had bought the short-haired
Fox Terrier when he was a mere puppy, and he became so endeared to us, not only as a
loving pet, but our protector as well. The loneliness we experienced without him was
just terrible!
The girls used a baby blanket to line the box, and after he had lapped up several saucers
of milk, they bedded him down on the warm soft blanket. He purred "thankfully" for the
warm milk and the loving attention he was receiving, and he was soon fast asleep. The
girls meant to carry out my wishes, but the following day they were worried because their
new little kitty was just too, too loveable to part with. They discussed ways as to how to
win me over (I was told later). Finally, Janice Sue suggested that they wait and hope I would
give in -- mellow!
Though it has been said that cats or kittens shouldn't be bathed, my girls decided the
kitten needed a bath, and after they had dried him well, they tied a blue satin ribbon
around his neck, and he was even more beautiful than when they found him.
He followed me most everywhere I went, and I oft times stumbled over him, and this
worried my girls, though they kept hopeful I would mellow.
So, one day it did happen. I was taking our dry laundry off of the clothes line and I
noticed that as I was going to an already mounded basket that the clothes were weaving.
I couldn't imagine what was the cause until I bent over to pile my armful of clothes on
the basket, and there was my answer to the weaving, for the kitty stuck it's head out of
one of their Daddy's shirt sleeves, and what a darling sight he was! I pulled him out
of the sleeve as I dropped my arm full of clothes on the other clothing. As I was
lovingly petting him, out of nowhere it seemed, my girls came shouting, "He has won Mama
over -- now can we keep the kitten?" After they had calmed down from that excitable
moment, they immediately wanted to name him! Janice Sue suggested they find a cute
French name from one of my French books, but Elizabeth Ann and Winifred Jean said because I
had stumbled over him so much, why didn't we name him "Stumble?" So, "Stumble" he became!
He was a wonderful pet and was so enjoyed by each one of us. He lived for eleven years,
and he stayed so beautiful and became as fat as a "butter ball."
Though the girls had enjoyed him while he was a frisky kitten, as he grew older, he
preferred being near me. And, though I didn't want another pet, he became a very
special one and I loved him very much!
--by Elda Elizabeth (Routh) Eddleman (1910-1999)
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