Sonny and Cher

My spouse and I finally managed to move out of the big city two years ago with all our numerous dogs and cats.  I wanted to move to escape the endless fireworks there, which constantly terrified and traumatized our pets.  My spouse wanted to move to prevent me from rescuing any more homeless street orphans.  When we moved, we already had 12 rescued dogs and 12 rescued cats, and she believed that was more than enough for any family.

We settled into our new home in the country, and before long, were all enjoying our peacefully serene rural idyll.  But since moving out to the country two years ago, we very sadly lost two of our beloved cats to kidney disease - our Flower, who I rescued in Hurricane Katrina, and our Jasmine, who I rescued from the city streets.  We miss both immensely, as do our other cats.

This past June, on Father's Day, my spouse looked out our front window and saw a sad looking cat standing on our new front porch.  She immediately said: "It appears that one of the children you left behind in the big city has found you.  Your Prodigal Son is here!"

I raced outside to feed this poor hungry feline.  And based on my spouse's humorous comment, I named him Sonny. He is a gorgeous orange tabby cat, but he is shy and fearful of human beings, and I believe that he must have had a very hard life.  Sonny has taken up residence in our barn, and after nearly three months living with us now, although he is extremely grateful for his daily meals and for a place to live, he has not yet learned to trust me.  But I am working on that.

I was mowing our front lawn one morning, about a month ago, when I noticed a small, grey tabby cat following me.  I stopped the tractor, got off, sat on the ground and talked to her. Less skittish than Sonny, I told her to ‘wait a minute’. I rushed into the house yelling to my spouse, “Cher is here!  She found Sonny! Bring some cat food!” My spouse duly obliged.

Right now, Sonny lives in our barn and Cher lives in a huge evergreen bush, right outside our front door and, once again, we have 12 cats.  My spouse has come to love both Sonny and Cher.  I can't say the same about Country Joe - a stray Pitbull who recently arrived at our front door - but that's another story.

Ed Kostro

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