MAB HERE'

It's been a long time, hasn't it? So much has happened. A lot of it has made me very sad and some of it has shown some progress. Christmas has come and gone and it was very different this year. John Andrew is gone from us and so is Dede's Daughter-in-Law's Mom, Faye. People have been taken from us that we didn't want to go away. Little children have been killed in Newtown, Connecticut and nothing seems to be happening about it. It has caused Dede to talk a lot about John Andrew.
John Andrew was my good friend. I loved being in his room. He didn't talk very well and sometimes he sounded harsh because he was trying to make himself understood. But I understood what he said. He really loved me and called me "Girl". Of course, that's not my name, but I liked it that he called me that. Sometimes I didn't want to leave his room and he would say,  "Now, Girl,  it's time to go help Dede. I'll see  you later." I wish I could see him now. Sometimes I get sad when I know he's not here, but then Dede and I talk about his Spirit still being with us.

I like it when Dede talks about John Andrew's Spirit. She says his heart was pure. She says that he was the best person she ever knew and I know that really means a lot because she always said that the only Saints she ever knew were her Aunt Edna and her Grandpa Tillery. To put John Andrew in their company is a great thing. I know she is right because Cats know good people and John was a good person.

Dede got very sad awhile ago when she was listening to the President speaking about the children at Newtown. She said that she had three six year olds years ago and one is now gone. It is painful to lose a child after sixty years, but how much more painful never to see a child live to be sixty. I understand that. I truly understand how Dede feels. I don't like to see her so sad, but I heard someone say that Joy comes in the morning. I think I'm ready for that morning to come. I'll write more soon. I have much more to say about John Andrew and Dede and the things that have happened to all of us in the past months. Until then,
Love from Me. Mab, Author of Talk To The Paw

A Moral Dilemma

A MORAL DILEMMA

First, let me set the stage for you:

I have gophers in my backyard. I have given them names even though I hate them.

Dede is cleaning out the garage and it is my belief that she is throwing away

some of my most treasured Cat Toys.

To distract me, she has insisted that I watch Cat TV. (To watch Cat TV means to stare out a window instead of at the Real TV where I watch Toddlers and Tiaras, Little Miss Perfect and Repo Man. For some reason known only to herself, Dede believes that I don't know the difference. I don't know what to do with her when she is set in some weird belief or other. But I digress.)

To soothe her, I DID sit and stare at Cat TV and what I saw was amazing!

I saw Mitt digging at one of the gopher mounds. He dug and dug for over an hour.

When the mound was level, he stuck his paw down in the hole and quickly drew it back!

Fred, the gopher, must have bitten him because he ran away.

(Of course, it could have been Alexis, Fred's Lover. I don't really know.)

Anyway, I would love to get rid of the gophers. They are ruining my lawn.

So. I spoke to the man who owns my house and we decided that he would come

and put poison in the holes.

Big Problem.

It is poisonous to Cats!

I told him to go ahead and get Fred and Alexis and the rest!

I can stay out of the backyard since I am what is termed "a House Cat".

Then I had a Horrible Thought!

What if Spike should ingest some of the pellets?

I would feel awful.

I would even feel awful if it dispatched Mitt.

(Oh, we've had our differences and I wish he'd stay in his own yard and I don't like his

Politics one bit. I think he's a Fascist. I'm not sure what that is but I heard it on Real TV

and it sounded mean, so I thought I'd use it. But I digress.)

I can't have the blood of my fellow Cats on my Paws.

(I wouldn't mind killing Basement Cat, if he really exists, a fact that I am now not so sure of.

However, if he DOES exist, I want him Dead. But I digress.)

What to do? Why am I faced with such difficult decisions?

I will let you know who survives and who goes with Basement Cat to the Basement.

Meanwhile, Love from Me. Mab.



MITT

MITT

I've told you about the three Cats that regularly show up in our backyard.

The black one, Basement Cat, could be a fig newton of my imagination.

Dede has never seen him, which leads me to believe he might not be real.

I certainly hope not. He scares the chicken gravy out of me.

He doesn't walk. He slinks.

He is so black that he is blue and his eyes are red.
I really don't care to discuss him further.
The other two Cats are a different matter.

The first Cat is Mittens (at least that's what I call him

because he has two very elegant white front paws,

but I call him "Mitt" for short). He is very handsome.

He looks a lot like me. In fact, we could be brother and sister.

He lives in a big house down the street.

It has a big yard and I think it has a pool in the backyard.
There are two new cars in his driveway.
I suspect he has never wanted for any Cat toys or Cat treats ever in his life.

He is very well groomed and well fed

and looks a bit spoiled to me.

The other Cat, Spike, on the other hand, lives in the opposite direction.

He is not very handsome and looks as though he has been shaved.

He is brownish in color and has sprigs of fur on his head and body.

He is thin and always looks hungry.
I haven't seen his house, but I suspect it doesn't look anything like Mitt's.

Whenever Mitt and Spike meet in my backyard, Mitt wants to fight.

He calls Spike bad names in language only the three of us can understand.

(I find that most people don't speak Cat --  a terrible gap in their education.

It would make things so much simpler for all of us if they would learn it.
I speak English very well, so you would think Dede would learn to speak Cat.
I can onl think that she is just lazy. But I digress.)
Because I am fluent in Cat, I understand Mitt and his bad manners.
He calls names, tells lies and thinks he owns the neighborhood.


Before I realized what Mitt was doing, I didn't like Spike
and wanted to fight him myself.
Now I feel sorry for Spike and would help him if I could.
Dede suggested that we put out food for Spike.
(I said to her, "Are you out of your tiny little mind? Mitt will just come
and eat it and Spike won't get any! You must be crazy!" But I digress)
Perhaps  my friend, Hank, who is running for Senate, could help Spike.
Maybe Spike could run for Senate, too.
If Mitt runs for Senate, I will work to defeat him.
Liars and cheats should not be elected to anything.
Perhaps there's something I can do.
I'll think about it and let you know what I decide.

Love from Me. Mab.

HI FROM ME. MAB.

"IF I WERE KING OF THE FOREST"

COURAGE

The Lion in "The Wizard of Oz" was seeking

courage.

How very silly! I am much smaller than that Lion and

I am very brave. My dearest wish is to tangle with the

Three Cats that traverse my backyard!

I would show Mitt, Spike and Basement Cat a thing or three!

(But I digress.)

Dede and I have been discussing courage ever since we read

the blog of my GodCat, The Rev. Deborah Dunn.

She wrote very eloquently about three people that are very

courageous. It's title is "Recovery", but I think it is really about their bravery in facing something that will change their lives forever.

I asked Dede if she has courage and she said it was

"the whistling past the graveyard" kind.

She says it is a pretend courage, but that she has never had

to display courage for anything that has happened to her

because she has led such a blah life. Many others that she cares about have faced all sorts of things and have shown great

courage.

She says that the hardest kind of pretend courage to display is

the kind you must show when someone you love is in trouble.

Dede says that she can't remember a time in her life when she

hasn't been responsible for the care of someone. She says

maybe when she was at university, but that was a very short time. Before that, she had two brothers that she took care of  and then she got married and there was John and soon there was Deborah, my GodCat, and then John Andrew and then Bill and, of course, many Cats.

Dede says that when you have a family so many things happen and some of them are very sad and you have to pretend to be very brave even when your insides feel like Rice Krispies. Sometimes the Rice Krispies get soggy from tears and sometimes they keep snap, crackle and popping long after what made them appear is gone. She says that those are

the worst kind.

Dede says she admires courage more than any other trait and that is why she is so inspired by Deborah's choices for her "profiles in courage."

Bishop J. Jon Bruno, Valerie Ward, Simon Cunningham --

names to remember and to admire.

Dede wishes she could be like them.

Because I am fearless, maybe I can help her.

Meanwhile, as Dan Rather used to say,

"COURAGE!!"

Love from Me. Mab.

LOVE FROM ME. MAB.

ONE ANSWER

ADOPT-A-FAMILY

Dede and I have thought and thought

about those among us who don't have enough to eat

or clothes to wear.

We think that we have one answer and maybe

we'll come up with another later.

Our idea is this:

since I am adopted, and it has worked out very well

for both Dede and me,

we think that we could adopt a family.

We don't mean they should live with us,

but we could help them with food and clothes

Once a week, we could go to the store and

buy things like cereal and milk and fruit

and especially things that children would like.

We think it would be nice to pick out tee shirts and jeans

for them to wear.

These things don't cost a lot and we have so much and

we need to share our good things

that The Creator has given us.

We know that lots of churches do this

and that's wonderful,

but they shouldn't have to do it all.

We have a family in mind to adopt.

Do you? Will you?

Adoption is a good thing.

Just look at me and Dede.

We'll let you know how our next adoption turns out.

Until then,

Love from Me. Mab.