Sooty

During the first week of my life, I was given a black kitten.  My parents named him Zeke, and that cat was mine through and through for nearly 18 years.  I was devastated when he passed away. 

It was nearly 3 years later, out and living on my own, that I went down to the local shelter with the intention of adopting a black kitten.  But instead, I met Winnie, a 3 year old former barn cat.  This cat stole everyone's heart and had been in the shelter for months, even when other kitties were being euthanized due to a lack of room for all the strays. 

I took Winnie home, renamed him Zeke, Jr. and Junior became his name.  I had him for 17 years, and he died at the age of 20.  I did not expect the grief that hit me when that cat passed away.  I had grieved over other pets before; our wonderful Shepard, Ginger; our sweet, but weird Sarah cat, but nothing prepared me for Junior.  Plenty of people advised that I go out and rescue another cat ASAP, and I tried, I did look.  But I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  It didn't feel right, I just wasn't ready.

In June of 2014, my sister's cat had a whole troop of wee black kittens.  Of course, we had to visit, but I did not go with the intention of bringing one home.  So there we are, watching what might be one of the sweetest moments of my life, a group of tiny black kittens, running and jumping around the kitchen floor.  I love all cats, but the soft spot I have for black cats obviously started very early into my childhood.  I feel connected to them, the black ones, all of them. It is one of the few things in my life I truly feel a connection to.

None of the little black kittens really stood out to me, and so I thought that this was not the day that I would fill that gap in my life, and I began to feel very sad about it.  Then, one of the wee ones broke away from his brothers and sisters, wandered over to where I was standing, a good 7 feet away, and the little stinker curled up on my foot, and started napping there.  I held my breath, bent down and scooped him up into the palm of my hand and placed him under my chin.  He snuggled in even closer, and purred.
 
We drove straight from my sister's place in the country to the city 30 minutes away, to have a quick stop at the vet and get everything we needed to raise our new kitten.
 
Sooty is definitely known as my cat in our household.  He regularly seeks out my lap, and will not take no for an answer.  If I'm not around, he will sometimes snuggle up on my husband, but it is usually on his favourite chair in corner of the upstairs sitting room that you can find him. 

I'm sharing this post at Viewing Nature with Eileen for Saturday's Critters.

Sooty



Comments

  1. Hi Andrea and Sooty! Thank you so much for visiting me and Magic today! What a wonderful story of your love for black cats. This photo is stunning. Magic was dumped as a tiny kitten and awoke me in the middle of the night crying. I was out in my night gown and just when I would get close, he would run. Finally, I picked him up and he has been with us for 6 years now. So nice to meet you via Eileen's. I look forward to following you.

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    1. That was so wonderful of you do take the little guy in, and thank you for revisiting me and becoming a follower. "Follower" is kind of a creeper word, visitor or friend is much better I think. I look forward to seeing more of Magic! What a great name.

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  2. Hello, what a lovely story. I missed all my old pets. I have only had dogs. Your Sooty is a sweetie, he won your heart. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!

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    1. I don't know how you find the time to visit all the people who link up on your post, but that makes you an amazing host! Thanks again Eileen!

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  3. Aww Sooty is a sweetie and I think he has a heart shaped nose! So glad he adopted you for his mom!
    Just wanted to answer your query about the swans on my post today and you're right to be wary of swans as they are aggressive if approached, but I'm glad to say the ones I was photographing were so used to walkers on the path that they took little notice of me!
    Have a great weekend!

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    1. It is great to have animals that are used to people. It makes them a lot more fun to photograph!

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  4. what a sweet beauty! they do take pieces of our heart, don't they? :)

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    1. They really do! And it doesn't seem to matter how much trouble they get into or how much housework they create!

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  5. Look at that handsome boy.

    Isn't it funny how sometimes our cats pick US instead of the other way around.

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    1. It was a very funny moment, breathtaking. But it was an unmistakable picking of the human.

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  6. Pretty kitty! I miss my old friend Max, a big black shorthaired cat.
    ~

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    1. I know. I still my all of my past pets, but the new ones help fill the void.

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  7. My dad found a litter of kittens in one of his R.V.'s. Later, he took the Mom and all the kittens to a neighbor's farm. But we later found that one had escaped. "Blackie" was destined to be Dad's new cat.

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    1. That's funny. Did he actually make his way back to R.V.?

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  8. Such wonderful memories of your pets adn of course a great story about you newest baby.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  9. Endearing post and love how Sooty 'sat on your foot' ~ so glad he did ~ Sooty is a beautiful cat and your photo is exquisite!

    Wishing you the magic and love of the season,
    artmusedog and carol

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  10. What a lovely story, so heartwarming. I loved it and I love your Sooty. It was just meant to be. They usually have a way of letting us know when the time is right :)

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    1. Yes, they certainly do. It was easy to integrate him into my life, it truly felt "meant to be".

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  11. One look at his face and I knew I had to read your post! Oh how it welled up within me, a story of sweet tender cat friends. I loved reading about your first cat, and about Junior...and loved how Sooty CHOSE you! Beautiful! A truly wonderful "cat tale" of love. May you have many MANY years ahead of pure joy with your sweet new cat!

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  12. Soothy has chosen you, if are living with cats for so many years you know their sensitiveness and how they do feel ours !
    May you live together in love for so many years ( your cats are so incedibly longevous, thanks God ) !!!

    Sending love and sweet hugs to you, my sweetest friend
    Dany

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  13. Yes - that kitty was meant to be!!!!

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