(2023) Looking Back…

I don’t often like to see into my own childhood memories, as they are precarious at best.  But for you, my friends, I have courageously looked through the curtains of the past that most often obscure my view.  I have learned that we must take the good with the bad, as far as memories go.  Haven’t we all had to make peace with our past, in order to walk forward towards a better future?

          This particular memory arose out of the oddest sort of recollection.  My husband brought home a watermelon the other day, and that sounds normal so far, as I am sure this behavior occurs within homes across the globe, nearly every day.  Things played out typically for us, just like most, until the moment my eyes came to rest on the label stuck to the side of the watermelon.  On the sticker were the words, “Grown in Hermiston Oregon”.  I do not often come across the name of my childhood home, and the last place I would have expected it to be, was on a piece of fruit. 

          For several moments, a cacophony of strange emotions floated briefly across my heart.  When I encounter these things, I usually set them aside to process on their own… I have learned not to rush into things willy nilly.  In this way, I dismissed the strange feelings and carried on with my day.  For several days I truly forgot about the sticker.

          Yesterday, as I was working on a story about two squirrels, a memory popped into my head, and the squirrels were momentarily replaced with the memory of a cat. 

I had forgotten about this cat for many years… until yesterday!  In the past I would have slammed the door on this part of my childhood immediately, as it has always brought an overwhelming fear.  I have learned in time, that I can view my past without fear or shame, but rather, with clarity and grace; both of which are great navigators, along the pathways of our hearts. 

          I do not generally slam these doors anymore, as I walk a better path now… a healing path.  While I will look at my memories, I have not ever written down a good one where my father was in the same story.  This morning was different for the first time.  In this memory will be the first written work I have ever done, where my dad is going to get his moment, but not like you’re thinking.  And another surprise I have for you is that you’re going to laugh and walk away very happy.  Let me show you…

          His name was Leroy!  We named him after that song, Bad Bad Leroy Brown!  From birth, this cat was crazy about me, and at the same time he was mean as they come… he stole my 7-year-old heart.  Another thing about this cat… he hated my dad! 

          This was not a passing fancy, a tiny dislike, or even a mild aversion to the man… Leroy was always planning the old man’s demise, I think.  This cat would destroy my dads’ things, and only his.  Leroy would intentionally pee on his clothes or in his boots, and every day from the moment my dad came home, the cat would stalk him and seek to bite him at every opportunity.  Guess where Leroy slept at night… hehe… with me!  At one time, my dad got so mad at the cat, he shot him!  Leroy disappeared into the woods… but he lived!  And he came home!  My dad was so mad, but a little scared too, I think.  He left the cat be, and pretended he didn’t care either way.

          One day Leroy did something that set my dad off, and he loaded the cat up and drove him across the county, dumping him at a friend’s barn.  We were devastated by the loss of our Leroy, and for some unknown reason, this was one of the few times my mom ever displayed her emotions.  She went off!!  By the time she got done yelling, my dad was sheepishly driving down the driveway with an empty cat box on the passenger seat.  My mom made him go all the way back down the road and retrieve our cat from that barn!  When that old station wagon pulled back into the yard, we all came running out of the house in excitement.  The first thing we saw as the car door swung open, was our cat Leroy climbing slowly and leisurely from my dad’s lap.  The next few moments are some of the most precious memories I hold of my dad with my cat…

          The man looked like he had been attacked by a weed wacker!  He was covered in cat scratches and bite marks, and Leroy peed and poo’ed all over his lap.  My dad barely got the cat inside the box he had brought along, and Leroy broke free as soon as the car ride home began. Our station wagon never smelled the same after this escapade, by the way.  That cat kicked my dad’s hind end for the full 20-minute ride from that barn.  This twelve-pound feline lived up to his name that day.  Let me tell you…

Loosely written from the Lyrics of the song,

He was my Bad Bad Leroy Brown

Maddest cat in the whole darn town

Badder than that ole shotgun

Meaner than that Junkyard hog (I would never insult a dog)!

 What I wouldn’t give to have been an observer in another car, or even walking on the side of the road, as that station wagon drove by.  There is for sure someone out there, who witnessed my small hero, scratching the life out of my dad all the way home!  It is very true what they say, that many times great heroes come in small packages!

That Cat Ruled!!!!

***No animals were harmed in the making of this episode, and each of the stunt cats were given their wages in delicious fishy treats, as well as, numerous bags of fresh catnip!***

I spared no expense!