Here's Why My Cat Sits at My Thanksgiving Table
Not the Thanksgiving table, and that's not her plate, but that's Sweetie, who sometimes sits with us
One of the byproducts of divorce is that you’re often separated from your children at holiday time. Some families manage to combine, but through the many years I was alone I was not included at the table of my ex and his wife, and my sons were usually there.
My oldest son and his family now visit my daughter-in-law’s parents every Thanksgiving in San Francisco, and since my younger son visits us in January, he usually spends Thanksgiving with his father.
So since the mid 1990s I have rarely spent Thanksgiving with both my sons. And I have never spent the holiday with my granddaughters.
What to do? A tradition has been started that has substituted as best possible. My nine-year old Maine Coon cat Sweetie, who loves people and is well-mannered, joins us at the Thanksgiving table.
Sweetie sits on an antique school bench. She looks at friends as they talk, eats her cat food daintily and is good company, although she never laughs at jokes or passes the potatoes. On the other hand:
She doesn’t get drunk.
She doesn’t get up from the table to watch football.
She doesn’t spill gravy on my tablecloth.
She doesn't tell awful jokes that go on too long.
She doesn’t say how Rush Limbaugh is brilliant and Sarah Palin is a wonder.
She doesn’t talk about her most recent operation.
Sweetie may not be human, but she's a well-behaved family member who enjoys sitting with us. And considering the consequences of divorce on my family, it may not be so odd that she's there.
She is a sweetie and gorgeous too, for which I give special thanks!
Have a great Thanksgiving, whoever is at your table.
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ccdarling
nilesite
cancerdancer
Liberal Southern Democrat
Emily Rapp
Nick Carraway
Salon.com
Comments
rated with hugs for you and sweetie
Our cats are our children and if they want to celebrate Thanksgiving with us, more power to them.
Unfortunately, our cat Louey has a previous engagement and cannot be with us this year.
R
I am sure my hound dog and cat will share the turkey.
Nothin' wrong with that Lea.
Happy holidays dear.
This cat is still here. It was still on my page.
I have decided allergies or not I want her.
Please box up and send Priority mail.
Thank you.:)
r.
I love the Maine Coons. Sweetie is gorgeous.
For different reasons than yours, I long ago quit susbcribing to the typical holiday expectations. I believe the holidays can be imbued with specialness in many different ways, and sometimes they don't need to be special at all. We toured Miami and Biscayne Bay and ate Mexican food one Thanksgiving with my Honey's Mom , and it is a fun memory. But it IS also nice when family visits can be worked out too. Especially when it's with your own children, I'd imagine! Have a lovely Thanksgiving Day with your Miami family and friends. At least it is going to be warm!
I told him about my pets and reinforced his spoiling his cats by likening them to being our children, "Well, they don't leave home to go to college, do drugs, or ask for money. They are 100% non-judgmental and love us in spite of our faults."
Sweetie is a beauty.
I told him about my pets and reinforced his spoiling his cats by likening them to being our children, "Well, they don't leave home to go to college, do drugs, or ask for money. They are 100% non-judgmental and love us in spite of our faults."
Sweetie is a beauty.
Denese
I lived with one of these northeastern furballs for about a year.
PBFH left him with me when she took my advice to visit her mother permanently.
This guy was pretty much a one person cat and, after only a couple of weeks, we reached an agreement~~if he'd come over to me, I would rub his back.
Well, we got along very well after that.
One day PBFH called and said that she misses her cat.
Being highly intelligent, I immediately knew that, if I let her come to get his who had no name that I wouldn't ever have to see her again so, I told her to come get him.
After he was gone, I felt a void.
This void wasn't filled in with appropriate softness till I visited the local inhumane society and met Fred.
Fred is like me, someone who lived on the streets and found a place to share with someone who isn't at all demanding(as long as we both have full bellies and places to shit & sleep).
Well, I now rent this house from Fred and it is a home.
We get along extremely well and, for holidays such as christmas, we exchange gifts.
I get him a treat from the rare can of Fancy feast and, in turn, he leaves me a gift in the box in the john.
Fred says hi to Sweetie although he admits that it's rather pointless to flirt since he's been neithered.
That's the only thing about us that's different and he's STILL jealous.
We have Botanical Garden china too.
Happy T-day.
I will return one of your ::hugs::
She is gorgeous and well-behaved.
How big is she? Maine Coon Cats are usually pretty good sized cats.
Our Coon, Firecat, is about 23 pounds and has that sweet, easy-going disposition you describe. He might try to pass you the potatoes and he is a socialist.