I don't remember exactly when we got our first cats, but I was in
elementary school. We got our cats, Shadow and Minx, from our Aunt Colleen,
whose cat T.C. just had kittens. Shadow and Minx had a sister, Sandy, who
was taken by my second cousin. Minx was my cat, Shadow was my brother's,
and soon Shadow gave birth to Midnight, who was everyone else's. There were
a few other kittens in the litter, but by the time we found out there was a
litter, the other two babies had passed on. I loved Minx more than
anything. One time he got stuck up on the roof and I tried to coax him
down, begging and pleading. Then I tried putting a chair close to the roof
in hopes he'd jump onto it. Eventually he did, and I was relieved. I also
remember there was a fearsome thunder and lightening storm and Minx was
trapped outside. Every now and then you'd see him dart across the yard and
I would scream "Come on, Minx!" I was so freaked, I thought I saw him get
struck by lightening. When I was in the fourth grade or so, my parents
separated and my mother, brother, and I moved into our grandmother's. This
was a hard time for everyong, especially my cats, because they weren't
allowed inside very much. There was an indoor porch, though, that was
theirs. Now, instead of gaurding my bedside every night, Minx would run
would cry and cry when he couldn't be found. Shadow had another litter and
we gave away most of the kittens. I remember joking about mom giving one
away to the pizza man, just because he had stopped by. My grandmother and
uncle took a white and black-spotted one, that I called "Cow." My mother's
boyfriend at the time took another and named it Max. I think there were two
others, and they stayed with grandma as well(I think). My mom found us an
apartment to move into and we had to leave the cats at grandma's. I hated
this, but was getting used to not having Minx around; right about now he
was gone for good. There was a time when my mother wanted to forget the
rules of the complex and take the cats, but my brother cried his little
heart out saying it was best they stayed with grandma because he didn't
want to break the rules.. Later I was told that my uncle's cat had been hit
by a car. It's hip was shattered and his leg had been broken. They put him
to sleep. Even later, I was horribly informed that good ole grandma gave
all the cats to the shelter. I was crushed.
