For those of you who've never been owned by a cat, let me tell you...it's an experience you'll not soon forget. Queenie the Cat and my wife Linda is one such story.
They were a family long before I came on the scene more than 13 years ago.
Me? Well, I had HAD cats before and I liked them. I thought we sort of got along...they could take me or leave me and I felt pretty much the same way about them. A nice - you know "symbiotic" relationship.
I remember when I met Queenie for the first time. I had come into Linda's house and seen Queenie and thought "Wow, what a pretty cat". Naturally, I wanted to walk over and pet her but Linda cautioned me to "not pet the cat". I thought, how silly! I reached down to pet her anyway, and that was the first time I saw one of Queenie's Hissy Fits. She hissed, bared her teeth and jabbed at me all in the blink of an eye. If she had been a Cobra, I'd have been a goner.
Linda promptly walked over to her, picked her up and told her what a good cat she was.
This pretty much describes the special relationship my wife had with Queenie the Cat. Linda was Queenie's person. Over time, Queenie accepted me and I think she may have even liked me a little, but I was under no illusions, Linda was her special favorite.
You had to be around Queenie for awhile to really appreciate her "cute" personality. For example, she had no inkling of what the phrase "self-esteem problem" could possibly mean. I don't think she ever heard the word "NO" in her entire life and rules (if there ever were any) didn't apply. In fact, I don't think the laws of physics applied to her either. You simply wouldn't believe how she would run on walls and turn on and off lights!
Oh, and the Hissy Fits I mentioned earlier? Those were one of her favorite tactics and always a crowd pleaser. Queenie had a very strict sense of personal space and brother, if you violated it, you paid the price. The Hissy Fit would send large dogs and even large people running for the exits! It became quite comical for me. You couldn't be around Queenie for any length of time and not begin to appreciate her special talents. I even fell under her sway. I became her second biggest fan.
As the years passed, Queenie mellowed out. She became more tolerant of us humans in general (but never other dogs or cats) and she would even purr sometimes when I petted her. But throughout all of this, Linda was still her person. Many is the night I would watch Linda and Queenie curled up on the couch together simply enjoying each others company. Life was good.
Sadly, good times don't last forever. We lost Queenie this past Friday, September 11th. She was 17. Queenie, you made our life better and we loved you. You'll be missed and never forgotten.
