My Assistants

Every time I sit at my desk to write, I always was joined by my cat Suze. She tried to get my attention by pawing at my hand to pet her or stepping on my keyboard most of the time. As distracting as she could be, she amused me, and I was grateful for our routine.

Suze’s story with me starts back in August of 2009. She was found outside of my apartment door, hungry and needy. She was tiny for a kitten. I found out later that she was born at an abandoned house behind the apartment complex where I lived at the time. She was probably separated from her mother way too soon. We took her to an emergency vet and told us this little kitten was pregnant. We waited months for kittens to arrive, but they never came. It turns out she was just lethargic. She adapted to my life pretty quickly. Before long, she was in step with the other animals and with me. Right before we would have her spade, she went into heat; I coddled her, pacing back and forth in the living room in the middle of the night with her snug in my arms.

Several years ago, she accidentally got out of the house; I was worried and walked the whole neighborhood looking for her. Two days later, I found her on top of my car. She jumped into my arms like she had been there the whole time and was ready to come inside.

I taught her how to spar (perfect martial arts partner), to come when I whistled and how to give kisses. If I told her to give me a kiss, she would bow her head and let me kiss her right on top. She followed me everywhere and had to be in the middle of everything. If I was sweeping under the couch, she was under there inspecting my work.

She loved when we bought a new desk, and it gave her a perfect place to sit while I wrote or did anything else at the computer. As I wrote, her purrs would resonate a few inches away.

It is incredible how animals like Suze can make you smile instantly and help you not be so serious about life. All she needed was a little attention (Okay, much attention), a clean litter box, food and water, and petting on the head to be content. She was a simple cat, and I believe more people should be like Suze.

I lost Suze suddenly in the summer of 2020. The doctors weren’t sure if it was her heart, lungs, or anything else. She passed quickly and on her terms. I think it was only just that she died as mysteriously as she came into my life. I know animals don’t live forever, but they sure know how to leave their footprints on your heart.

Over a year after Suze passed, I now have a new assistant. Monkey is a black and white cat who came into my life by accident. I was working at a building selling life insurance when a co-worker came to me and said, you need to go outside. I exited the side door and on the sidewalk was a tiny, frail kitten who looked injured and near death. She had her rectum exposed, swollen eyes, and scarred in its ear and back. I called someone to get her to the vet.

The vet told us they could do surgery to fix her rectum, but she was malnourished, had worms, fleas, and a weak lung. If she made it through the surgery, she might not make it past the next day. Three days later, we took her home to foster and help her heal, but Monkey did not like being in a kennel and did her best to escape. That is how she got her name; she would climb the kennel door and try to swing it open.

As the weeks and months passed, Monkey thrived and ended up staying with us. She shows no signs of the horrible ordeal she had in the beginning.

And she now is my new proud assistant. She likes to walk in front of my screen when I am writing or working. Every once in a while sits on my lap while I try to work from home and makes me take breaks for hugs and cuddles. She purrs as loud as Suze did.

I found Monkey a mere weeks after I lost Suze. Some may say she is Suze reincarnated or Suze sent her to me. I feel animals pick us and find us for a reason. We think we are rescuing them, but we are the ones who are saved.