Hurricane "Cat"trina

The year was 2005 and for those of us who lived through it we could tell you stories that rivaled the terror of 2020. Especially if you lived in South Mississippi and Louisiana in August. Katrina was a category five storm that rocked the whole nation as people watched on television the devastating flooding in New Orleans and the twenty foot storm surge pick up huge hotels and casinos and carry them out to sea on the Mississippi coast. But, particularly for those of us who experienced, it we all have our own Katrina story if not several. One of mine is the story of Ginger, the cat pictured in the photograph. In the days after the storm my wife and I slowly made our way back out into the community picking up the pieces and helping others clean up and rebuild after the disaster. We live about sixty miles from the coast so the storm had weakened to a category three hurricane by the time it reached our home and we were fortunate that we received only minimal damage. The same could not be said for the Dental Office where we both worked. The old office had been converted from a two story home and my wife and I had actually met there for the first time only two years before.

While we were at the building cleaning up the long storage space that used to be a garage that had been completely wiped out by the strong winds we heard a meow from amidst the rubble. Digging through the piles of ruined dental supplies, wood and roofing we exhumed her from the refuse. She was an old orange tabby, declawed who could barely walk. Her poor feet were road burned and when she walked she would gingerly take steps since her poor feet were so badly damaged. We took her home and named her Ginger and we estimated she was at least 5 or 6 years old. My wife and I already owned a cat and a dog and we hoped that she might get along with them and we would be able to keep her. She did not, rearing up hissing and biting at our large dog and medium sized cat. We took her to my parents house, who currently had not pets and had been looking for something to adopt anyway, though admittedly my Dad said he would have rather had a dog. My "dog" preferring father though quickly became enamored with the tabby and she would sleep between his feet every night for years and after his cancer surgery grew even more affectionate to him.

It turns out that Ginger was from the coast we learned later and had evacuated with her original family. As they were driving through our town she leapt out their window as they drove and her family never could find her. Once we located them we offered to return Ginger to them but they had since moved into an apartment complex and could not take her back. So Ginger officially became a part of our family.

Fast forward eight years and my wife and I no longer have the cat or the dog, both having died years before, but we do have two young children. Due to circumstances that I will not go into here we had moved away and sold our home for work. But Dad's health problems as well as other circumstances brought us back. We moved into my parents house, who themselves moved into a smaller place for a short time. Ginger was still kicking and Mom and Dad decided that they would not take her with them as she was getting pretty old and we did not want to uproot her to much. So along with the new house my wife and I inherited Ginger again. She transferred her love for my parents to us easily and while she was never a terribly affectionate cat, she slept every-night in the bed with us to the point that now she is gone I still put my feet to one side to make room for her.

Yes, Ginger did finally pass, taken from us during the dreaded year that was 2020. After all those years her kidneys were beginning to fail her and tearfully we said our goodbyes. As I held her while the vet administered the shot I could not help but be sad but also grateful for the "old bag" as we had affectionally begun to call her. By some standards she was not a great cat, not overly affectionate or playful. But some animals transcend that. Ginger felt all too human and a year later I still sometimes think I see her in the corner of my vision.

I have had a few cats and dogs in the 30 plus years I have been around, but Ginger stands out to me for her longevity, sassy personality and grumpy face. She may not be as pretty as some of the pure bred cats and we never enjoyed that kitten stage with her. But by far she was and is my favorite cat I have ever owned and I am grateful that in spite of the mess Katrina brought all those years ago, the storm at least brought me and my family one gift and that we got to adopt Ginger.