Gu Ma and Emily

姑媽 Gu Ma – that’s me. Father’s sister. I am lucky to be an aunt. I have enjoyed my brother’s children. It’s been great to watch them grow and develop into responsible adults. As for me, I have a cat child, Emily. Emily is an American Shorthair Domestic cat. She has the very typical short front legs and powerful back legs common to her breed. She also has beautiful, velvety black fur and huge, very round, golden eyes. The great thing about Emily is that she talks. She has a good vocabulary of words that have to do with her immediate situation – she says: Mom, Up, I want, Here I am, Out and a couple of other things. Of course, when she says these words her speech sounds more like: maaam, uh, ahwaa, eeww-ah-aamm, ow etc. She likes to announce the things she’s doing so I will look. She was born in 1990, so she’s experiencing many of the problems inherent in old age, particularly arthritis in her hind end. To help her get around, I have little stairs and boxes strategically placed so she can more easily jump up and down on things. Getting on the bed is particularly difficult for her. One day I heard her announce I want to (ah wahtu). I heard “I want to, I want to, I want to…. NOW” With the last word she painfully jumped up from the last step onto the bed. I am reminded of the “Little Engine That Could”. What a joy this little cat has brought to my life. She gives the best hugs and kisses, and her delightful commentary on the world, simple though it may be, has brought charm to my otherwise drab, everyday life.