The Roanoker - March/April 2019 - 67

I'll admit I've never had a deep
connection to animals. I've done
my share of snuggling, sure. And
my longtime feline duo certainly
cheered me through many lonely
nights and stressful days. But
none of them ever made me
feel as if my heart were beating
outside my chest.
Not like this cutie.
Is it that Shadow happens to
have the sweetest personality
of any pet on the planet? Since
he came into our home after
being rescued from beside a
Franklin County dumpster two
Christmases ago, he has scratched
no furniture and wouldn't dream
of hurting a human. He stays
close by when let outside and even
leaves most of the wildlife alone.
He hides under furniture,
revealing only his tiny white
toes, then playfully pounces
when we walk by. If we clink a
spoon on glass, he knows a scoop

of tuna will follow and starts
into a happy dance that rivals
any penguin's. When he winds
himself into a tight, black ball to
snooze in a patch of sunlight, it's
all I can do to keep myself from
uttering an audible "awwww."
But it's not only Shadow's
charm that has me wrapped
around his dew c law. The
difference is my daughter.
Seeing my girl so smitten has
made me love this cat double. I
love him. And I love her loving
him.
When our kids are babies,
todd lers, e ven elementar y
schoolers, there's so much - joy,
laughter, loud, hugs, tears. But as
they get older, all those heart-onthe-sleeve moments are replaced
by ... hardly anything at all.
My teens don't sit on my lap
or pull me close when they're
afraid or want me to kiss their
boo-boos. But my daughter, she

can get that kind of comfort
from her kitty.
And so can I.
At this moment, when
my taste in tunes is eye-rollworthy and most of my advice is
"cringe-y," Shadow is something
we share. We swap stories about
him. I care for him when she's
away. And because she wants to
do right by her baby, she's open to
my lessons on how to respectfully
raise another living being.
Watching my high schooler
with her kitty, I see sides of her
that she doesn't often reveal.
She is doting when she bakes
him a cake on his birthday,
nurturing when she applies his
flea medicine even though he
whines and wiggles, responsible
when she chides us if we overfeed him while she's at school.
This fall, Shadow got
into a couple scrapes with a
neighborhood stray. As I worried

about him, I realized how
much he has come to mean to
me. If he were seriously hurt,
I would be crushed. But then
I think of how devastated my
daughter would be to lose
her little guy and my heart
absolutely shatters.
I love this kitty best of
all because my daughter's
devotion magnifies my feelings
for him.
There is a hug that a toddler
and a mama share. It's so tight
everything else falls away and
all that is true is the two of
you. Back when my kids were
toddlers, I thought I'd be able
to reach for that hug forever.
Now I know that holding
tight to this adorable kitty
- the same one my daughter
snuggles with every night -
will have to take that special
embrace's place.
It will do. I

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MARCH/APRIL 2019

67
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The Roanoker - March/April 2019

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