December 25, 2007
I’m home in Texas for Christmas. Angela goes to see her family in Dutchess County, New York. We aren’t married yet; on holidays, we still go our separate ways.
This means Julie will, for the first time in her life, be on her own.
My friend Jay offers to cat sit. I’m nervous, but I don’t want to be the guy who pesters his friend about the cat’s welfare, so I keep it cool. These days, Julie has a cat sitter who drops by whenever we’re out of town. The cat sitter gets paid and I have no hesitation to ask her for updates and photos. In 2007, we can’t afford the luxury of a paid cat sitter. We use Jay, for free, and I don’t bother him with too many questions.
I later learn that Jay isn’t a cat person. He means well, of course. But not everyone knows how to interact with them. Cats can tell when you want their attention. They will come to you on their own terms. This is a valuable life lesson, I’d later realize. With some people, you need to let them think what you want is their idea. As it is with cats.
While cat sitting, Jay spent a few hours playing video games at my house, with the noise at a high volume. He came on a little too strong for the precocious, but still shy, Julie. And for a few years after that, Julie was jumpy around new people. Perhaps she was scarred by Uncle Jay.
It embarrassed me a little bit. I’d talk up Julie, her lovable nature and quirky personality, and then when people showed up at the house, she’d hide. After a few hours, she would emerge and win them over, but this is how it went for a few years. Angela called her our “secret cat.”
At some point, that changed.
Now, when a guest comes to the house, Julie greets them almost as eagerly as she greets me. She’s by their feet, rubbing her face against their legs, jumping in their laps. I suppose it took some level of maturity for Julie to accept humans that aren’t me. And watching her interact with a guest or friend, well, is it weird to say it makes me proud? People have preconceptions of cats as aloof, and the adult Julie is anything but that.
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