Jody the kitten

We have a new kitten, my husband and I.  We didn't plan on acquiring a new kitten, didn't even know that we wanted one; but now that we have Jody (the kitten), she's already so tightly interwoven into the fabric of our lives that it is hard to believe we have only owned her for three weeks. 

This is how Jody came to live with us. 

My husband and I had just finished eating a Mexican dinner at a restaurant located in an industrial area.  My husband wanted to smoke a cigarette before we drove home.  It was a pretty night, so I leaned against the car, waiting for him to finish smoking.  I heard a faint noise, and a few seconds later, I heard it again.  I told my husband that I thought I was hearing a bird; but that it didn't seem to be flying overhead, and that it was strange to hear a bird crying out at night.

My husband thought it was a bird in a tree a few feet away from us.  I walked towards the tree and realized that the noise was not coming from the tree; but from the steps of a boarded up home to the right of the tree.  I told my husband that I thought it was a kitten crying.  My husband replied "No, it's a bird". 

Being naturally curious (my husband says that I am naturally nosey), I walked towards the house and saw in the dark, a little shadow streak into the bushes next to the porch.  I bent down close to the steps and started calling out "Here kitty, kitty", over and over. 

In a short amount of time, I was holding a tiny bundle of soft fur in one hand and with the other hand, I was stroking the kitten's face and back to calm her down. I walked towards the car with the kitten and my husband, who by then had finished smoking, asked me if I was ready to leave and I said "Yes".  He then asked me what I was going to do with the kitten and I replied that I didn't know but that I wasn't going to leave her there. 

My husband knowing me all too well replied "Well, I already knew that".  So she came home with us.  I had good intentions, I even called a friend's daughter that does feline rescue and told her about the kitten.  She said that she was currently filled to capacity; but that if we could keep the kitten until the following weekend, she had two kittens that would be leaving for new homes. I told her sure and told my husband we would take the kitten to her the following weekend. 

The next morning my husband and I went grocery shopping and were buying canned cat food and my husband picked up a small cat bed and said "we might as well buy this for the kitten as you know Paddy (our cat) will be mad if the kitten tries to sleep in his bed.  And then we had to buy her a cat scratching post, and because she was so tiny, we bought two small bowls for her food and water.  And of course we had to buy her a few new cat toys, as Paddy's toys were kind of worn out. 

After a couple of days my husband asked me what I was going to name the kitten.  I told him I hadn't thought about a name for the kitten (totally not true) so he suggested Jody. I called my friend's daughter later that night and left her a voice mail message saying that we were keeping the kitten and that her name was Jody. 

Earla Jean Hollon (USA)

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