Did you see that? That woman has a cat in the baby buggy! Yes, that would be me. After almost fifty years, once again I am pushing a baby buggy with a cat.
It all started on a cold winter day late February 1956, and my Mom was pregnant with her first child: me. Being almost eight months pregnant and needing a nap, Mom lay down in her bed where she was immediately joined by Limit, a black-and-white short-hair cat, also pregnant and in need of a nap. As Limit fluffed the bed making herself comfy and cozy next to my Mom’s big belly, my Mom was serenaded to sleep by loud voluminous purring and constant kneading from under the covers.
As Mom awoke from her slumber, to her surprise, Limit had given birth to a healthy litter of kittens! Oh how exciting the house must have been, full of new life and a human baby on the way too!
Shortly after I arrived home in mid-April, all the ruckus and crying noise confused Limit. Naturally curious, Limit had to check it out and found a little baby girl in the lacy bassinet. Obviously not a danger, Limit proceeded to carry each of her seven kittens to the bassinet and place them carefully inside, so all the babies were together. When the kittens were several months old, Mom and Dad made sure good homes were found for all of the kittens except one – a darling all-black kitten with a healthy set of lungs.
I had that little black cat my entire childhood. He was a very gentle soul, allowing me to dress him in my clothes; I remember I would get mad when Mom or Dad would take the clothes off my cat. But what I remember most was going for a walk with my Mom, over to grandma’s house, pushing the stroller with my black cat in it.
What a gift it was to be raised in a family that truly loved and respected animals. I’ve been blessed to live with at least one cat my entire life. My heart and soul would just not be complete without a cat. Grandma would always tell me that history repeats. Yes, it certainly does. Today, almost fifty years later, I am that woman walking around the lake with a black cat in the buggy!
Read your “Cat in the buggy” story and it was my own story when I was 6 (this was over 10 decades ago). I didn’t like “imitation babies” so I dressed my cat in doll dresses and wheeled her in my doll buggy — she was a real live doll and the best doll in the world. How great to know that other little girls did the same thing! I still love cats.
I have a vision of being a child sitting on the steps of my parents farm house with Timmy the cat in my lap dressed in a red plaid doll dress. The baby carriage ready and waiting to accompany her to the barn where her evening meal awaited.
You brought tears to my eyes.
I have a great deal of respect for animals, what they can teach us and how they unconditionally love us. It’s as simple as that.
Thank you!