The other day a friend posted how her husband hadn’t wanted the puppy they got, but is now in love with it. It reminded me of the first cat my kids had.

DANDYLION

Since I was five years old, I’ve had a pet in the house. Cats, dogs, hamsters, a wild rabbit, bird. You name it, we had it. Of course the most common were the cats and dogs.

When I got married, one of the first ‘rules’ my husband made was, “There will be no cats in this house.”

That lasted until our oldest daughter was about two (and her big brother was almost seven). Her daddy was standing at the bathroom sink shaving when she came walking into the mobile home with her little hands cupped in front of her. (I’m not sure who helped her up the steps and into the house – not me.) She looked up at her daddy, “I want kitty, Daddy. Can I?” There in her hands was a tiny ball of beige fur that didn’t even have its eyes open yet.

Now we all know how daddies are about their baby girls. About eight weeks later, Dandylion came to live with us.

The first night, I’m not sure whether the cat wore the kids out or the kids wore the cat out, but after the kids went to bed, I missed the cat. My husband was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper, and I asked, “Did the kids take that cat to bed with them?” “No.” I went over to the couch and there nestled in the crook of the elbow of Mr. “There will be no cats in this house,” was that little ball of beige fur sound asleep.

Dandy grew up to be one of the most beautiful cats I’ve ever seen. He was the tawny gold of a cougar with eyes the same color as his fur.

Unlike a lot of cats, Dandy loved to ride in the car. Open the car door and Dandy was in the back window.

We had him for about six years until he got into some poison some way. He was the first of four cats my kids had while their father and I were married.