Cats – His Smile Lit Up a Room and Other Things to Say at My Funeral

Hello, Dolly

They play it indoors using a small wooden bat and a wrist band as the ball, and they call it wrist band baseball. They used to play it in the living room when they lived in San Antonio. If you hit the wrist band into the lowest basket of the hanging fruit basket, you gotContinue reading “Hello, Dolly”

It’s Okay If You Go Home Now

Stephen is standing in the young man’s doorway. “Gordon, I think you should come see what’s up with Blackie.” “What do you mean?” “He’s on the armchair in my room and he won’t move.” “Just chase him off if you want him to move.” “No, I mean, he will not move. Just come see.” TheContinue reading “It’s Okay If You Go Home Now”

The High C

Lani is a concert-level soprano 1 who passed on continuing her music career to start her family with Rob, a Coast Guard lifer. The young man’s mother has known Lani since childhood, and through quirks of circumstance–the Coast Guard for Lani and Dad’s law practice for Barbara–the two women are in the same congregation inContinue reading “The High C”

A Present from Muffy

Muffy has long white hair with streaks of gray and black. Her eyes are blue and alert, though she is never mean. She is mom’s cat and sleeps at the foot of their parents’ bed. Her favorite game is to chase rabbit’s feet and, once she has caught them, drop them in her water bowl.Continue reading “A Present from Muffy”

Toby

Ruthanne has a rocking chair in her room, so he sits there. The light is off, though a nightlight partially illuminates the room. He is home from his mission and waiting to go back to BYU. She is seventeen and is trying to keep pace with school, though she has suffered with the Epstein BarrContinue reading “Toby”

The Boy’s Cat

When the boy was nine, he noticed a large black cat in their Leon Valley neighborhood. It dominated other cats. Sometimes, he would hear intense whining or crying and see the black cat on top of another cat, pinning it in place with his fangs embedded in the other cat’s neck. Once, he saw boysContinue reading “The Boy’s Cat”

To Monitor a Cat’s Blood Sugar

They are in Texas for Christmas eight months after being married. They are sitting in the front room getting ready to watch a movie with Ruthanne and the man’s parents. Mom comes in dressed in a nightgown and her slippers, and she carries a bag full of needles. “Lauren, before I forget,” she says. “IContinue reading “To Monitor a Cat’s Blood Sugar”