Overwhelming Joy

I found myself in tears last week--sobbing, overwhelming tears that left my husband so utterly perplexed that he looked at me as if I'd sprouted another head. Just one of the mysteries of women that men will never truly understand.

I was sobbing out of sheer happiness.

If you've been reading here for any length of time, you know that our cat Calvin is very sick and nearing the end of his life. In addition to dropping weight like crazy, he just hasn't had the energy to do much. When Doogie tries to engage him in a good fight, Calvin generally hasn't been able to do much but half-heartedly slap at him.

But last week I caught him beating up Doogie over a chair that Calvin didn't even want; he was just in the mood for a fight, just like old times. Throughout the day Calvin showed signs that he felt perkier. I mentioned it to Steven when he arrived home from work.

But the thing the left me sobbing with joy occurred later that night. After I give Calvin his nightly round of pills, he generally heads back to his heated pillow or to the bedroom to snuggle with Steven until getting kicked out for the night. Instead of doing either of those things, Calvin headed to the living room, found his favorite toy, sat on it, and stared meaningfully at me. This was always his signal that he wants to play.

He hadn't asked to play with his fishing pole in months.

It was late, and I didn't really want to play, but if he was asking? Of course I was going to play with him! His favorite thing is for me to run through the house with it, dragging it behind me, eventually running into the bedroom and slapping it on the bed. He jumps up on the bed and attacks the fishing-pole tassels. It's our thing, which we hadn't done in months.

Steven was already in bed when I ran into the bedroom and slapped that toy onto the mattress. As soon as I saw him, the happy tears that had been welling up suddenly gushed out, and I sobbed, "Look who wants to play!"

I don't know if it's his newest med making him feel better or what, but whatever it is, we'll take it. Seeing a little of his former playful self is beautiful.

And he's kept it up. I had a huge piece of paper spread out on the floor recently to fold up for recycling (it was the packaging in something we received recently), and Calvin immediately climbed onto it. Both boys were actually intrigued by the huge piece of crinkly paper. I let them enjoy it for a while.