This week, one of my clients told me that the day after she read my blog, her adult children were over at her house and they decided to play a board game. Once they had begun playing, one of her cats came out to see what was going on.
She remembered that when her cat was young, she loved to lay in the empty box while the family was playing board games, so she got the box and put it on the table to see what her cat would do. Sure enough, her cat immediately jumped up on the table and got right into the box so she could join in the fun. She was so happy to know her cat still liked to join in the family games. I was so tickled by her story, it has brought a smile to my face each time I have thought about it.
Another one of my clients emailed me this week, after reading my blog, to share a funny story about her cat. She told me that last summer, she was hosting a slumber party for her daughter and a few of her friends. The girls all wanted her to style their hair so she pulled out brushes, rubber bands, clips, etc and was prepared to do french braids, pig tails or anything else the girls wanted.
As she was brushing the first girl's hair, her cat came out, jumped on the back of the chair and started running his paws through the girl's hair as well. She said all the girls squealed in delight and hoped "Tom" would help brush each of their hair. She was shocked because normally "Tom" hid when the house was full of kids, but that night, he clearly wanted to be part of the "hair party" and they were all more than happy to have him join in the fun.
As I thought about these darling stories this week, I remembered another one
of my favorite memories of Lucky. I am fortunate enough to still be close to my best friend from kindergarden, Dawn. Even though she has lived on the east coast since we were in sixth grade, we have always remained friends. A couple of years ago, she came out to visit, along with her husband and their three sons. I had never met her boys before, as she and John hadn't been out to California with them. Lucky was in heaven that week. She instantly fell in love with the boys and the feeling was obviously mutual. While she had always enjoyed playing with kids at the park, she had never been fortunate enough to have kids to play with 24/7 and she was beside herself with joy the entire time they were here. Whatever the boys were doing, she wanted to be doing it too.
One day during their visit, Lucky and I took the five of them to our special beach. I had never seen Lucky so animated. Normally, at the beach Lucky was just focused on her tennis ball. It was all about running after the ball and bringing it back to me so I would throw it again but that day, she wasn't interested in her tennis ball at all. She was only interested in what the boys were doing and she was determined to be "one of the boys."
When the boys ran into the water, Lucky ran in after them. She followed them in and out of the water, again and again. When they started digging in the sand, she got right in there and tried to help. She didn't know what she was supposed to do at first, so she stood there watching them closely for a few minutes and then when she figured out how she could help, she started digging in the sand as well. The boys were giggling up a storm the whole time.
When Dawn's husband wanted to take a picture of his sons on the beach, Lucky walked over and got right into the picture as well. She was obviously thrilled to part of the gang and lucky for her, John was happy to photograph all four of them together. At one point, I turned to Dawn and John and said, "I'm so glad our kids finally got to meet." John thought it was the funniest thing he had ever heard and for the remainder of the trip, he brought it up repeatedly, laughing just as heartily each time. From that point forward, they not only called me "Aunt Maureen" but they referred to Lucky as their "cousin."
A day or two later, when Dawn and John decided to take the boys to Bonfonte Gardens, at first they didn't want to go if Lucky couldn't join them. They really did think of her as one of their friends. When the boys were inquiring as to how soon I could come out to New Jersey to visit them, one of them asked if Lucky would be able to come too. When I explained that I didn't think Lucky would be able to handle the airplane ride, since she'd have to fly in the cargo hold, they suggested that I shouldn't come visit them, unless I drove, because it wouldn't be fair to Lucky for me to go see them without her. :-) Looking through the pictures I took that week, I couldn't help but smile. They brought back so many wonderful memories.
I think it was definitely on Lucky's "Top Ten List" for best memories of her 14 years. She was so happy to be included in almost everything the boys did while they were here and it really does reinforce my belief that animals appreciate being a part of whatever we're doing. They see themselves as members of the family and like to be treated as such. I hope you'll keep looking for ways to include your animals in your activities.
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