| Bud When he first came home, he was homesick for days. He cried so much that he lost his voice. He regained his voice about a year latter, but it never returned to its original strength. As he grew older, he grew stronger. He was a jock; he could beat anyone at a thirty-yard dash. He was so good at it that once he took off across the kitchen floor and slid into the door. He crawled away from the collision with a broken nose. He broke his nose another time when he was frightened by a stuffed cat and ran into a metal door. He slowly started to gain a beer belly in his old age. He selected his chair and rarely got out of it except to get something to eat or to crawl to a warm bed. He left the house only when he had to. He would be a good boyfriend. He would always listen and never talk back. He was rarely ever displeased, but when he was, he gave very little fuss about it. He was a good bed warmer. If you ever rolled on him, he would gently push you off or he would not do anything at all. He would met every boyfriend that entered my house. If he did not like him then he would stay in the room and watch my boyfriend’s every move. If he did like my boyfriend, then he would go to bed. All of the boyfriends acted nice to him to be on his good side. He enjoyed potato chips, nachos and cheese, a glass of coke, Hershey bars, spaghetti, and peeled grapes. He became overweight with this special treatment. Twenty-three pounds was too heavy for his size. He would become a speed bump if he wanted breakfast or dinner to be fixed. He would find just the right place on the floor to sit so that you would trip over him on the way to the kitchen. His belly always attracted attention. It became the focus of every party. Girls were always rubbing it as he stretched out on his back and enjoyed the attention. He was the life of the party, the boyfriend, the listener, the pillow, the vacuum cleaner, the speed bump, the bed warmer, the dog tamer, the father, and the jock. He was the best cat a girl could ever have. In Memory of Bud, May 1986- March 17, 1996. |
