i have been owned by two pairs of cats. my first cat was found at Bideawee in the first month after the breakup of the relationship that i thought was my true love for life. ah the folly of youth .

emma was a “tuxedo” cat – deep black short fur with white stomach and four white paws and a white tip on her tail and a black dot on her nose – a very independent but loving cat. she was very tiny and would climb up the loft ladder and sleep curled right next to me under my chin… of course as she grew this position became more problematic – but she adapted and would even readjust her position when i would turn over during the night as i am wont to do.

miranda came to us via a friend who found miranda’s pregnant mom straying thru the upper west side. miranda was very young also when she came to us; unfortunately emma was not a very maternal cat, yet there was no fighting. the two just figured out which were “their” spots and staked them out and neither ever sat in the other’s spot. they were different types as well – emma had to cuddle next to me whenever i sat on the sofa. miranda would hang out on the top of the sofa or on the arm – close but not too close.

they died several years ago – miranda first at 13 in the autumn of 1999. her death came during the darkest years of my life and to deal with it, i spent a day tearing up concrete to create a space for a garden. emma died in feb 2001 at 16. i had to put miranda down (horrible experience) and so i convinced the vet to let me keep emma and she died in my arms.

three years went by ….

i found myself on jury duty in brooklyn. after i wasnt selected on the third day for the felony case, i was wandering Atlantic Avenue and came across HOPE VET. just browing i thought and went in … and there was a mother cat and her kitten. the mother was a pregnant stray… as far as the vets could determine she was barely a year old. the kitten was the sole survivor of her litter of three. one other person was interested in the kitten only but was going to declaw her – so when i said i would take both (no declawing!) that must have been the extra point because after filling out a three page application and waiting three days, i was approved.

so Cordelia and Katie came home with me in Feb 2004. Cordelia because the vets had called her cornelia and i wasnt that crazy about that name so i picked the closest i could find that i liked; Katie for Kate Hepburn who had died at the time and for my grandmother – Kathryn.

ok to the Wagner reference…. Katie was a very skeetish kitten and still doesnt tolerate being held; although 9 months later she is calming down enough that she will abide about 5 minutes of petting and scratching of her head before skampering away.

anyway last spring i was sitting at my desk preparing to listen to the MET OPERA’s broadcast of DAS RHEINGOLD with score at hand. that deep chord was rising up thru the orchestra and here came Katie peering thru the door. she calmly jumped up and, laying on the desk, spreading out over everything, sat thru the entire opera. it was intriguing to me as i dont have the volume down low or even at medium levels.

wonder what she would do if she heard live music ? well, maybe soon we will see.