The Cat That Went to Homecoming Page 7

  “Hershey and I are officially a therapy team,” I said to her, “I just got the confirmation today.”

  “That’s awesome!’ Cindy said. “When do you start?”

  “I’m not sure, I’ll talk to Jane when I go to work next week and find out.”

  “Wait a minute, you have a job?” she asked in surprise.

  “Yes, but just for the summer,” I told Cindy about Jane, Pet Partners, and how Jane had given me a job to help me to get to this point with Hershey and all the steps I had taken with him.

  “Wow, I think you are going to make a lot of people happy. What made you decide to do this?” she asked.

  I paused and thought about it. Why did I take that leap?

  “Cindy, I’m never going to be a cheerleader or the Prom Queen and in all honesty, I don’t care. Those are such frivolous goals for shallow-minded people. I just want to have a genuine purpose in life.” She remained quiet and still, just looking at me, so I went on. “I understand isolation and loneliness. Life has not been great for me, but Hershey has been my support through it all. I decided one day that if he could make me happy, he could make others happy. We could do it together.”

  I looked around and discovered that Sarah, Margaret, and Brandon were no longer sitting with us, they were in the pool. I looked over at Brandon and he winked at me. He gave me this time alone with Cindy. Boy, that Brandon sure was one hell of a guy!

  Cindy was fidgeting with her hands and looking down at them, “Ellen, why did you isolate yourself for so long?” She looked up and looked me right in the eyes. “Why did you stop being my friend?”

  “Honestly, I thought I was doing you a favor. I mean, look at you Cindy, you’re beautiful, you’re smart, and you were meant to be popular. I was holding you back.”

  “So you think I’m shallow and that I would rather be like Darcel?” she asked in astonishment.

  “Oh, gosh, no, I don’t mean it like that.” I defended myself, but the more I thought about it, wasn’t she right?

  “Cindy, I didn’t want you to feel obligated to the fat girl in the class,” I said with tears in my eyes.

  “Ellen, some people tease other people about an imperfection so that their peers won’t notice what’s wrong with them,” she said, “and the weaker the person that’s being shamed is, the more successful the bully is.”

  I had to stop and let what she had said sink in. Should I be offended that she was implying that I’m weak? I wasn’t offended. It never occurred to me that I was partly to blame for my circumstances.

  “Ellen,” she said as she stood up and held her hand out to help me up, “come with me for a second.” We walked to the garage. She removed a dusty shoe box from a shelf and blew away the dust. She opened the lid, and when I saw our old Bratz dolls looking up at me, I put my hand over my mouth.

  “These are our Jade dolls. Remember, she was our favorite Bratz. We never fought over who got to use Jade and who had to use another doll, we both got to use Jade and keep the name Jade!”

  I picked my Jade out of the box and looked at her. She was wearing a leopard print dress and big goofy pink boots. I knew she was mine instantly because I remembered how I swore I’d own boots like hers someday.

  “We didn’t care that they were exactly the same doll. We were just happy to have her,” she said, “and as much as I loved my Bratz dolls, I could not look at them anymore after we stopped being friends.”

  “Can I have her back?” I asked timidly. She wasn’t really mine per se, Cindy’s Mom had bought her for me because I didn’t have a Bratz doll and I wanted her so bad. I would play with Cindy’s other Bratz, but we both loved the dark-haired Jade the most. Cindy had talked her mom into buying her for me to use so we would both have a Jade doll.

  “She’s yours Ellen. I think I’m going to bring my Jade back into the house and have her sit on my dresser,” she said.

  “I will too,” I said. “I’ll put her on my vanity as a reminder of better times.”

  Cindy smiled and hugged me. “Let’s go hide these dolls and get in the pool before the others wonder what we’re up to.”

  The day was a blast and at the end of it, we all exchanged phone numbers. To my knowledge, no one ever saw our Jade dolls, but if they had, I was pretty confident that none of my new friends would judge us for it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Hershey and I had our first visitation on a Wednesday afternoon, and what a learning experience it was.

  Jane had asked me to join her at a nursing home and rehabilitation center. She and her dog, Lucky, were regular visitors to this facility. She told me that she had encountered a woman in the rehab center who was very depressed, and after visiting with her, she discovered the woman loved cats. Jane thought the woman would benefit from a visit with Hershey.

  The day before the visit, after my yard duties were finished for the day, Jane and I sat together in her barn and went over the details.

  “Ellen, how much do you know about nursing homes?”

  “Not much, really, just that the elderly live there,” I said.

  “Not all nursing home residents are elderly. People who cannot be cared for at home live in nursing homes, such as people with debilitating physical or mental diseases. The residents are under twenty-four hour care by registered nurses or certified nursing assistants who assist them with their daily living activities, administer their medications, and help them eat.

  “The nursing home we are visiting also has a post-surgical rehabilitation unit. The residents are only living there until they recover enough to take care of themselves at home. Some of these residents are only there a few weeks, some for several months. While living at the facility, they undergo various physical therapy exercises geared towards their particular recovery.”

  “So, it’s like an apartment complex inside of a hospital?” I asked. Jane chuckled.

  “That’s a good way of putting it! Yes, they have their own living quarters, but there is always a medical team available at any time if they need assistance.”

  Jane told me that she didn’t usually send handlers as young as me to nursing homes. She said the sights and smells tend to scare people my age. This made me wonder just what I was getting into.

  “Ellen, it’s just a fact of life, we all grow old. As the body ages, we lose certain physical abilities, one of which is the ability to control our bladders. You may notice the smell of urine in a nursing home. That can turn many people your age off, but I’m hoping that by warning you in advance, you won’t be startled.

  “Sometimes residents with dementia yell or scream. They can be frightening, but you just need to realize that they themselves are frightened. They don’t remember who they are or where they are.”

  I could sense she was studying my face for emotion. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react. I didn’t want to blow my chance, but did I really want to go to this place?

  And then she said something that struck a chord in me. “No matter what stage a person is in their life, they should be treated with dignity and respect.” I couldn’t agree more.

  “Jane, I appreciate your candidness. I think I’m ready to meet this challenge.” I said, and I meant it.

  The following day, Jane picked up Hershey and me and drove us to the nursing home. She left Lucky at home because she was going to follow me and observe. I was nervous; it was going to feel like it did being watched at the chalkboard in class!

  I had spent the night brushing up on my cat facts to share with whoever I visited. Jane had given me trading cards with Hershey’s picture and his biography printed on them to hand out, and I had several of them tucked away in a bag with Hershey’s treats, his brush, and a bottle of water.

  When we arrived, I felt my heart pounding fast and I was worried that I would hyperventilate! Hershey was just as calm as could be in his carrier, not making any noise whatsoever.

  I followed Jane through the door and down the corridor until we reached a nurses station. I smelle
d the smell she warned me about right away and I must say, thank God she warned me. If I hadn’t known it would smell like that in there, I would have been completely grossed out.

  “Good morning Ladies,” she said to the group of nurses who all greeted her back by name. “I’d like you to meet Ellen and Hershey. I brought them today to sit with Janet Henderson.”

  “Hello, Ellen,” one nurse said in greeting.

  “Oh, thank goodness you brought a cat! Janet will be so happy,” another said. I smiled at each of them and shook hands with them.

  One of the nurses came around to the front of the desk and kneeled down to peek at Hershey. “He’s adorable,” she said. “Ellen, I want to give you a little history about Janet. She has been very depressed since she arrived and we would love to see her cheer up. She had her hip replaced, and since she has no one to take care of her at home, she came here to recover. Because she has no family here in Wisconsin, she has had no visitors and she’s very lonely. We’re extremely concerned that her depression could be hindering her recovery.”

  “Hershey and I will try our best to cheer her up,” I said, trying my hardest to look poised, but inside I was terrified.

  We walked to her room, the nurse knocked on her door and announced herself, and then we entered the room.

  “Janet, we brought a friend in to see you today.”

  Janet was seated in a wheel chair facing a window with her head bowed down and her body trembling because she was crying. I could only see the back of her head, but I recognized her immediately because I had seen the back of her head thousands of times as she drove me home from school every day! Janet was my bus driver!

  I did not think with my brain anymore. My mind did not do its usual job of planning how I should bend over without my shirt rising in back, or pray that my words came out right and that I didn’t stutter when I spoke. My brain and my mind let my heart take over instead. I no longer worried about how I would be perceived; all I cared about was this poor woman in front of me. I lifted Hershey out of his carrier. He was wearing his harness and leash, and for some reason he seemed to know he was needed. I walked over to Janet and he was right alongside of me. I kneeled beside her and put my hand on her knee.

  “Hello, Janet, I brought my cat Hershey with me today to visit with you,” I said to her. She looked down at me and I saw recognition in her eyes. There was a box of Kleenex on the window sill. I stood up, pulled a tissue out, and handed it to her. She dabbed at her eyes. “Well, fancy meeting you here,” she said to me.

  I was ashamed of myself for always ignoring her. I felt like I should apologize, but I knew we had an audience behind us.

  “I’m confident that one day we’ll meet under better circumstances, but for today, I’d like to share my cat with you.”

  I picked up Hershey and asked her if he could sit on her lap. When she nodded her head, I placed him in her lap. He immediately nuzzled the crook of her elbow, and she sobbed. Her sudden intake of air startled Hershey. He looked up at her and cocked his head to the side. Then he climbed up her chest to stand and rubbed his cheek against her tear stained cheek. She hugged him and cried even harder.

  I put my hand on her shoulder, “Janet, are you okay?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she said when she was able to speak, “Yes, I’m okay. He’s a doll, Ellen! He must be the reason you run off my bus every day.”

  I looked over at Jane and the nurse, and I could see that they realized Janet and I were acquainted with each other. Jane was smiling at me. Her eyes were soft and filled with pride. She winked at me, and then whispered to the nurse. They quietly left the room.

  I smiled at Janet and agreed, “Yep, he greets me at the door every day, and welcomes me home.”

  Hershey settled back into her lap, eyes closed and purring deeply as she pet him. Hershey had a way of cooing while he purred if something pleased him, usually it was being brushed or talked to. Since Janet was softly telling him what a handsome boy he was, he cooed for her. He made my heart melt.

  “Janet, you are obviously a cat lover. Do you have a cat?” I asked.

  She looked at me and the pain in her eyes was unbearable. Tears squeezed out and ran down her cheeks. She wasn’t able to speak; she was so filled with a sorrow that I could feel penetrating the air in the room. I squatted at her feet and gave her a moment, rubbing Hershey’s chin and letting my eyes tell him how proud I was of him.

  “There’s a picture on the nightstand next to the bed,” Janet said.

  She motioned with her head towards the nightstand, and I stood to retrieve the picture.

  It was a framed picture of a black cat with a white chest. I knew from all my recent research into cats that this was what was known as a tuxedo cat. He was wearing a baby blue collar in the picture, and my heart sank when I saw that same collar draped around a small white box behind the frame. Oh, dear Lord, no! I swallowed down the sudden lump of grief and picked up the frame.

  “He was beautiful,” I said. “What was his name?”

  Janet turned the wheel chair around so she could face me. Hershey stuck to her like glue; I don’t think he even opened his eyes when they turned. She wheeled around the foot of the bed to get closer to me. She stopped in front of me and looked down at Hershey, curled up on his back with his tummy exposed.

  “His name was Abraham. I named him after Abraham Lincoln,” she said, and motioned for me to sit on the bed. “I miss him terribly,” she choked out in between sobs.

  “Janet, I am so sorry. You should know that I, of all people, can understand the way you are feeling. If you need to talk about it, I am here for you, but if you don’t want to, that’s okay, too.”

  Janet began to share her story with me. Every once in a while I would see Jane peek her head in through the door to check on us, but we were engaged in deep conversation so she let us be.

  Janet was not elderly, she was only fifty-three years old, but she lived alone and her only child lived out of state. She had no family here in Wisconsin. Her left hip had deteriorated so badly from osteoarthritis that, for quality of life purposes, it needed to be replaced. She was aware that her living situation made it so that she would need to be placed in a rehab facility for a short time while she recovered. The only issue was that she had no one to care for her cat, Abraham.

  Janet had diligently researched and found an animal foster home to care for Abraham while she was in recovery. She would never have undergone the surgery if she hadn’t found the foster home. She said she’d rather live with the pain than lose Abraham.

  She had her surgery after school let out for the summer. Her plan was to spend the summer in recovery so she could be back at work in the fall. She had every intention of working hard to recover quickly. The average recovery period for hip replacements was four to six weeks. Janet was into her recovery for two weeks when she had her only visitor.

  She cried for several minutes before she could go on. I was crying too, for I thought I knew what she was going to tell me and it hurt.

  “The woman that was fostering Abe for me came in one day and told me that he was very ill. His appetite had declined dramatically after he was placed with her, which she attributed to him missing me. She became alarmed when he showed signs of dehydration so she had taken him to an emergency vet for IV fluids. I had given her permission to take any measures necessary for Abe while he was in her care, but I did not expect that anything fatal would occur.”

  “She told me that I had to speak to the vet, and that I would need to make a decision. She did not want to make it for me.”

  The vet told Janet that Abraham was suffering and he felt the most humane course of action was euthanization. She was shocked because Abraham had not seemed ill at all prior to her surgery.

  It turned out that Abraham had oral squamous cell carcinoma, cancer in the mouth. The tumor had grown to a point where Abraham could not eat. He would not live long, surgery was not an option at this late stage in the disease, and putting him to slee
p was the most humane thing she could do.

  Janet was beside herself. She could not even say good-bye to her beloved friend! She had given permission to proceed and made arrangements for his cremation, all while sitting in a wheel chair in a rehab facility. She could not hold him one last time, she could not give him a goodnight kiss, and she could not tell him how much she loved him.

  “Abe was fourteen years old,” she told me. “He gave me fourteen joyous years, and I thank God every day for giving him to me. I just wish I could have held him one last time.”

  I was crying till my nose ran! I got up and got us both some tissue. Then I hugged Janet and squatted again at her feet.

  “I am so sorry for your loss, Janet. I don’t know if there is anything I can do to make you feel better. I think Abraham knew you loved him more than life itself. I think it’s entirely possible that things happened the way they did to spare you from having your last memory of Abraham being of him suffering.”

  Hershey was still purring and just as content as could be, lying across Janet’s lap. She obviously knew all the spots cats liked to be touched because she had Hershey hypnotized.

  Jane peeked in again, and I could sense that it was time to wind things up. She entered the room, “Janet, it seems you and my young protégé have bonded. Would you like me to bring her and Hershey back again some time to visit?”

  “Please,” Janet said. “I would truly appreciate the visit.”

  I reached into my bag and pulled out a treat. I gently placed the treat in Janet’s open hand and asked her if she would please give Hershey a treat for being such a good boy.

  “Ellen, he is a good boy. You really have a special gift here.” She held her open palm out and Hershey’s eyes popped open. He nuzzled her hand until he found the treat and took it gently from her. He ate it, and then he looked up at her with half-closed eyes. This eye gesture was a way cats used to communicate affection, and since Janet herself was a cat enthusiast, she knew this.