Lesson learned

I can be rather self critical at times, but here's one of my good qualities: I have nearly infinite patience with kids and pets. It's not so much that I have a way with them. I am not exceptionally good at quieting crying babies and I'm not a "dog whisperer" or anything. I just don't get upset and don't give up. I have been blessed with empathy for things smaller than I am. And it's a good thing for Reynaldo.

We've been together just over two years now. He will be three years old in April. He is no longer a kitten. But he is a madman.

The shelter told me he was a stray. Yeah, right. His previous owner obviously opened the backdoor and showed Rey the bottom of his boot. He is an exhausting, infuriating creature. He seldom sleeps and finds genuine joy in destruction. This morning was typical. While I was showering, he knocked over 5 framed photos and ripped down the living room drapes, rod and all.

Rey is impervious to discipline. In his world, any attention is good attention. "Oh good, we're playing the game where she yells at me!" "Yea! It's time for the game when she chases me!" "My favorite! The game where she squirts me with water!"

He has his good qualities, too. His appetite for chaos is only matched my his gentleness. The toddler next door can pull his ears and yank his tail, and Reynaldo responds to this rough play with affection. When my nervous girlcat Charlotte gets upset, he gently grooms her ears. He's best friend to my big old tomcat Joey. And, oh, how he loves me.

I have always realized that you don't own a cat, you share your home with it. God deposited Rey into my life to remind me of that natural fact. And to help me remember that ancient Roman truism, "Patience is the greatest of all virtues."