Choosing to have a cat again, then wanting two and getting three, in the year of 2023, bringing them home on the 13th, whew, there have just been a lot of threes in my life this year. I am into numerology though this is just all synchronicity. The people I got the kittens from said they put down 11-11-2022 as the date the kittens were born. The Momma kitty had gone missing for a few days and they found her under the house with the babies and brought them up on to their enclosed raised lanai.
According to Numerology.com “A child at heart, the number 3 never misses a chance to have fun, engage with others, and express all the love and joy it embodies.” Well, these three little kittens have brought so much love and laughter into my life. I have been a widow for eight years, had a cat for about a year and have pretty much been alone. I have had a couple of roommates short term, was a companion and caregiver for a 93 year old woman who taught me I am now a free agent. To have a steady dose of love, daily, is such a pleasure, I am grateful for my kittens.
Only, now, a baby changes everything!! Times Three. In the early beginning, I just wanted to be at home and watch these sweet babies. When I had to go to work or run errands, I was back as soon as I could. Then as they continued to grow I continued to learn the ways that this responsibility was going to curb my life. Just like having a child in a sense. I can’t go off and go camping for three days without having a pet sitter. If I am gone all day, I often need to engage Auntie and Uncle to entertain or at least check on the babies if they can. When I make plans for a day out, I have to be home by dark so I can tuck them in.
I wonder if my mother thought about the realities of having another child or if I was just something that happened. I was the second of her first set of kids. Mom had a difficult life. She never knew her own mother who died when she was barely four. She was raised by grandparents, an aunt and an older sister. As her first marriage to an abusive alcoholic crumbled around her, she ran. When she couldn’t do it on her own with two kids, she sent me to live the grandparents, the older sister the father would take. Then she would get married again and bring the kids back together with the new husband. My older sister’s father said no more after Mom dropped off my sister after her second marriage, and we were separated from there on.
Mom married a third time, picking me up at Grandma’s house, I looked up at this big tall scary dude and didn’t want to go, but had to. Mom had two more kids and I got to be the babysitter from the age of 8 until we parted for the last time. Mom never could handle me, those were the words she used. She passed me off to Grandma until Grandma died. Then the aunts took a shot at trying to help raise me. Because of all of this, it is VERY important for me to try and keep these three ginger siblings together if I can. I’m playing the roll of single mom and it is definitely challenging at times. Giving them equal attention is not easy, I only have one lap.
I am grateful for Auntie and Uncle who play with them, give them treats, entertain them and love on them. I am not alone, it is taking a community to raise these sweet little kittens. Recently one of my friends gave me a cup that reads. “One cat away from being a crazy cat lady.” What was I thinking? I wasn’t. I was feeling, and allowing intuition. Intuition tells me there is much to be learned by being the cat Mom to these three little critters.
I love a challenge and yikes, The Three Little Kittens have kept me challenged, and I love it and I love them. That is the stuff of starting a family, whatever that looks like.