Little White Kitty

Christmas memories always bring back the time when our daughter asked Santa for one thing and one thing only....then didn't get it Christmas morning.

She was about four and already an animal lover, especially cats. Unfortunately, hubby is not a cat lover, so our pets had been limited to goldfish and the rabbit that lived in the yard. (Unless you count the cat I started our marriage with, which may explain some of hubby's cat avoidance) At that time we lived in town and hadn't started the succession of dogs that were to share our lives in the years to come.

Christmas came and we took her brother and her to visit Santa Clause. Her brother approached with his list memorized and quickly rattled off all the toys in the toy catalog. Now it was her turn. She climbed on his knee and whispered her wish. He leaned closer and asked her again. She looked up and smiled, "I want a white kitty cat". Santa nodded sagely and asked what else she wanted. She patted him on the arm and said, "That's all, just a white kitty." Santa looked a little hesitant and glanced over at me. I just shrugged. It was the first I had heard of it either.

She maintained this request during all the weeks leading up to the holidays. We showed her the toy catalog, took her to stores, pointed out neat toys her friends had but she just shook her head and said all she wanted was a white kitty. We threw caution to the winds and began looking for a white kitty. My dad and his wife searched their county, we called animal shelters, friends and farmers, to no avail. There just didn't seem to be any white kitties around. Hubby grimaced but didn't put too many roadblocks in our search.

Christmas arrived and she received white kitty pillows, stuffed white kitties, a white ceramic kitty, white kitty picture books, even a white kitty puzzle, but no fuzzy little warm body. It was a quiet Christmas in our house. Hubby didn't even gloat that he didn't have to share his house with a cat.

A few weeks passed and things were beginning to be back to normal. I find that children recover and move on much faster than adults. I still was reeling from the feeling that somehow we had failed this child. However, life goes on. I was in town one morning paying our electric bill, just before we received a late notice. (That was before computers would nag you into remembering to pay!) When I proudly slapped down my payment the clerk looked up and smiled. "Lucky you! You are the 10th person to pay today so we don't have to do the paperwork to track down delinquents. So you get a prize!" I smiled back, knowing that the staff loved to tease me for my bill paying skills. With that she reached under her desk and pulled out a small, fluffy, totally white kitten.

It seems that as they were closing up the night before the linemen coming in through the back noticed this little mite in the alley. Knowing that she was too little to fend for herself they brought her in and left her in a room overnight. However, she had outstayed her welcome and a home was needed, quickly. All of the memories of the Christmas with no kitty came rushing in and I soon found myself cuddling her and agreeing to take her home. One problem remained. Hubby still hadn't openly agreed to a cat and to get to the car I had to walk in front of the large, glass windows of his office. He would see me for sure and nip this in the bud.

The office staff seeing the solution to their dilemma ravel around the edges started doing some quick thinking. They didn't have a box to put her in but one of the guys came up with a paper sack. In a wink the little ball of fluff was tucked into the sack and the top stapled shut. I picked it up and bravely marched down the street. Several people stopped and stared as I walked past carrying the wildly, wiggling sack emitting pitiful mews. Somehow I arrived at the car without being detected by hubby.

The look on my little girl's face when I presented her with her little, white kitty made the deception and upcoming discussion worth it. When her excitement had abated some I explained that daddy's allergies made him not really want a cat, especially in the house (a fact she had heard lots of times in the past months). I cautioned her to let me greet him when he came home and break the news to him gently (with a stiff bourbon). She agreed.

When hubby arrived home, tired from a long day, he was greeted at the back door by a radiant four year old and a squirming bundle of fur. "Look daddy!! I got my white kitty. Her name is Star! You want to hold her?" She soon departed to play with her new friend in the living room and hubby turned on me with a glower. "I thought we had discussed this. You know I'm allergic." (only to cats, not to cows I guess). I calmly told him that was correct and I had explained that to her in great length. All he needed to do was tell her that she couldn't keep the kitty and we would find it another home.

Star lived with us for the next 18 years.

She and hubby maintained a constant war for all 18 years.

He cried with me when we buried her in the back yard.