FAREWELL TO THE MEWS

The connection between writers and cats is almost a cliche. I wouldn't be surprised if MFA programs offer courses about sharing your desk with a cat. There is a reason for this. I had been putting words on paper for years, but I didn't become a real writer until after we brought Blackberry into our home. I will always be grateful for what she taught me.

BE CURIOUS



Cats are  interested in everything––except what is shown on a screen. And they never look in the mirror. Blackberry and I spent a lot of time watching the pigeons across the street.

KNOW WHAT'S IMPORTANT



Blackberry had an uncanny sense of which particular piece of paper was the one I needed the most. Here she is taking a bath on it, as if to say, "Clean this part up."

CONCENTRATE



Her stare was so powerful that it was unsettling.

BE HUNGRY



Her appetite was tremendous. Once she got a whiff of something she wanted, she pursued it relentlessly. She obeyed no rules. No shelf was too high. She even opened cupboard doors to get food we tried to hide from her. She took what she wanted, even if it was a sip from my husband's cocktail.

BE FEARLESS



Yes, she is sitting on the peak of a pitched roof.

BE WILD

 

Blackberry never ever forgot that she was a hunter. Even toward the end of her life, whenever dusk lengthened the shadows in the woods, and other animals crept from their hiding places, she wanted to leave my lap and run off to be part of that other world.

Blackberry was my inspiration and my companion for many years. We will be telling stories about her life for many more years to come.

Friday the thirteenth

I am superstitious. I live with a black cat.

Before Blackberry -- b.B.b. -- I had written many novels. None were published.

B.B.b. -- I had also written half of a memoir about my experience with breast cancer. I didn't finish it. I really didn't want to spend another year of my life describing that year of chemotherapy and radiation.

B.B.b. -- My husband and I were trying to write a musical together. We fought more about characters than we ever did about our finances or taking out the trash.

B.B.b. -- Our daughter was smart and talented, but a little more socially awkward than most.

So, b.B.b., life wasn't always so good.

In 2004, we adopted a little black kitten. Our daughter named her Blackberry.

A.B.b. -- My husband and I stopped writing that musical.

A.B.b. -- Our daughter found an amazing group of friends at her new middle school. She kept those friends, and every year has added more.

A.B.b. -- I have continued to be cancer free.

A.B.b. -- In the summer of 2005, I started writing a humorous adventure story called Nature Girl. It wasn't published until 2010, but I knew I had found what I was meant to do.

My husband jokes that Blackberry changed our luck. I'm pretty rational about correlations and coincidences, but I have to wonder if he's right.

And so in this Thanksgiving month, I want to acknowledge how grateful I am for all the good things in my life. I know that I am lucky to have opportunities to share my stories, the blessings of friends, and especially our good health.

It's nice to know our black cat has our backs.