Friday, March 29, 2024
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Mimi, Mewsing

black cat looking out window
Mimi, Mewsing

Something about the light today brings back a memory…something about the time before I came here.

How long have I been here? It seems like forever, but I know it hasn’t been because I lived out there, out in the street I’m looking at, out there in all kinds of weather with noisy cars and kids after me, and I had all those babies…

That’s it, this time five years ago I was pregnant again. Which litter? I don’t remember…

garden path with black cat
Garden With Maia

These four big black cats, my children, didn’t exist yet, but I was near to giving birth, it was hot and they were getting big and heavy, my belly was nearly dragging on the ground. It was the only thing I didn’t like about childbirth then, those last few weeks when I was a real whale of a cat, otherwise it was as easy as eating dinner…I can hardly remember what it felt like to be pregnant now.

I came over here, I was always in this yard, hunting, there was so much here, and it was so quiet and peaceful, no big dogs barking, though the dogs were always nice to me…no people arguing or loud TVs or music. I just liked to sit in the garden, but the lady usually chased me away, something about not wanting me to hunt here.

…all the cats in the windows always looked so happy. I would talk to them now and then, Kelly or Cookie or Sophie at the basement door…funny to think that now they’re my sisters. They told me it was very nice inside, quiet, the lady was home most of the time and she loved each of them more than anything, she was like that. Everyone got special care, the food was good food. They had to stay inside…I really loved being outside, but I might be able to live without frozen paws and being chased by tomcats. I wouldn’t mind sitting at that screened basement door if it meant peace and quiet and good food.

But I always pictured myself carrying another litter of kittens in my belly, and it’s really odd how…no matter how hard I try…I can remember some parts of it, but it’s like it happened to another kitty, all those babies…and all that catting around. I have no urge to do that now, wonder what happened? I think it had something to do with that awful cutting and stapling and that horrible plastic cup on my head…really, I just about changed my mind with that, Mewsette was the only thing that kept me from heading for the door and sneaking out, and I would have done it, no kitty was better than me at sneaking out.

black cat with rainbows
Lucy chasing rainbows in the studio.

I know that one of my daughters lived here because I saw her at the window and talked to her at the basement door too, but she wasn’t here when I came in…I didn’t really understand what happened with her, but I felt that daughter calling me, telling me to come over here, to get this lady’s attention. I did know this human was very sad about something, I could feel it coming from her whenever I was near—all of us animals could, even the senseless chipmunks—even before I came in. She changed too, that’s right, she quit chasing me out of the yard and started talking to me now and then. And it did have something to do with that daughter…

And before I knew it I was inside. Okay, I remember now, I was in the box with my newborns, then the lid closed and we were apparently up in the air, then voices, then the box was set down…the flaps opened in a little square and there was the lady looking at me. It was quiet and cool, she opened the flaps and I looked around. I was…in her house. Why? Now I know, now that I’m here, but I was totally confused.

black cat on table with rainbows
Mimi's first photo, on the drawing table with Lucy's rainbows.

I felt that other daughter around and looked for her and so did my new mom, but I knew then she was in the rainbows that flowed across the walls and floor from the crystal in the window, spinning slowly for no apparent reason.

Life is truly magical.

~~~~~~~~~~

The photo of Lucy chasing the rainbows above was taken just a few days prior to Lucy’s death from FIP on July 10, 2007. The photo of Mimi on the drawing table at left was taken the day she came to my household, within an hour of her arrival.

The rainbows did and still do swirl around the room from that crystal hanging in the window of my studio, but on that hot, still day there was only one reason for it to be moving from the moment I entered the room with Mimi and the kittens in the box, and closed the door. It’s also the only crystal I haven’t had to remove because it became a toy for four black kittens; this faceted solid crystal ball a little over 1″ in diameter, hangs where it always did, twirling and sometimes swinging in the breeze in my studio window, yet I’ve never seen a curious and playful paw reach for it.

_________________________________________________________

Read more about Mimi’s mystery daughter, Lucy:

Lucy and I Fought the Good Fight

Lucy Inspires a Book

Meet Lucy!

And a little more about Mimi:

Mimi, on “Mother’s Day”

 


All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.

Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

12 thoughts on “Mimi, Mewsing

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  • Love this, Bernadette. I have my own rainbow story, so I don’t doubt Lucy was there, ready to welcome her mama.

    Reply
    • Tammy, that crystal is still there–you can see it in the photo from Sunday glowing right above the brushes in the center of the window. And there’s a little bit of Lucy in each of them.

      Reply
  • I love your posts every day, Bernadette. This one, though, has just transported me for some reason. Perhaps it’s the ghostly image of Lucy with her rainbows, and then Mimi’s misty memories about “that other daughter.”

    Just lovely, and also otherworldly, in photos and words.

    Reply
    • Pam, thank you, and all inspired by Mimi sitting there looking out the window that day…I did my best to convey what I felt, and I’m so glad it was real enough to capture you.

      Reply
  • Bernadette,

    Thank you for visiting and your sweet comment. I’m glad I made that slideshow so I, too, can go back and stroll ‘memory lane’ from time to time. And I figured out how to add a ‘Follow us by Email’ link (I am not very computer savvy and didn’t really know if that was an RSS feed or even what that is, hahameow. Anyway, I went to the ‘Add a Gadget’ thingy and I think I did it right. So now you can get an email when we have a new post, right?!

    And thank you for reminding me to come and visit you, too. I follow so many blogs, and really need to winnow out the chaff, but every time I visit you, I leave inspired and grateful that there are people like you in the world. This post today is so touching and poignant and so much how I feel cats think, and I don’t think that is anthropomorphizing at all…

    Reply
    • Teri, it was wonderful for me to see everyone’s photos and know what everyone looks like! I hope I get to attend some year instead of just looking at photos, though.

      And I went and signed up for you. I, too, follow so many blogs and really had to organize how I read them–RSS wasn’t working well on my old computer, and it’s still hard to remember to check, so I came to rely on e-mail subscriptions and it’s so nice to get everyone’s posts first thing and read them before the day begins.

      Thanks for your compliment on today’s post. It’s very special to me, as is Mimi who has grown from the mother of these four wonderful individuals to an important feline muse in my life as she and I have grown to understand each others’ sensitivities and needs.

      And the e-mail sign-up means Feedburner will send me your posts every day in an e-mail digest. Thanks!

      Reply
  • Lovely post Bernadette. Somehow I missed that you had Lucy before Mimi and the Fantastic Four. Now I need to follow the other links to learn more about her!

    Reply
    • Thanks for reading, Vicki, it’s been quite the journey. If you read “The Joy of Pets” you’ll get the story in order–that was the talk I gave last year at the Pet Memorial Sunday celebration about adopting again after loss.

      I do love the Fantastic Four, and it was they who helped me heal from the loss of Lucy and all those immediately prior to her, but Mimi came to me not just to bring her wonderful kittens, but also for her own important role in my life, and mine in hers.

      Reply

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