Far more revered than any cat.

Living with anything or anybody poses challenges. Which I'm willing to accept. And there's no better example than my two cats, Loverboy and Chenuska. I have to put up with 'em. The good and not so good. But overall, I look at having cats in my life as a gigantic plus. Although I'm not with 'em now. I didn't bring my cats to Sardinia. They are being cared for by a house-sitter. But when I'm at home in Minnesota, the cats are constant companions. And that especially goes for Loverboy. Anyway, I inadvertently brought a reminder of the cats with me to Sardinia. My Italian true love spotted a few cat hairs on my clothes. Of course, that's a problem, of sorts. Nuisance cat hairs. One must put up with cat hair. On the clothes. On the funiture. On the bed. Fortunately, I don't have any carpet at home. I live with tile and vinyl floors. Easier to keep clean and relatively free of cat hair. Another thing. I give the cats pretty much free rein of the house. Morning. Noon. Night. That can be a disturbing influence. Especially at night. But I put up with it. Even allowing the cats to jump up on countertops. Shows I'm rather tolerant. And it makes more work for me. Constantly wiping countertops. I never grew up with household pets. My mother wouldn't tolerate 'em. Maybe with one exception. She had a canary or two. Confined to a cage. No cats or dogs. But when I got married, that all changed. My wife Jeanne had three dogs. And eventually our daughter brought in a stray cat. I said, 'No way. No cats allowed.' But I was overruled. And eventually, I became the real true blue cat lover of the family. I encouraged taking in more strays. We had as many as five indoor cats at one time. And I saw to it that they had top-notch care. We also had a long line of dogs. Adopted strays. But since my favorite dog died about 12 years ago, I've lived without dogs. They need too much daily attention. Can't leave them alone for more than a few hours. Cats are different. They are independent. Taking care of themselves for a weekend. Posing fewer difficulties. In some ways, I'm closer to my cats than I am to real people. Of course, I make one exception. For my Italian true love. She's far more revered than any cat. --Jim Broede