Parallel conversations

As my two cats were being sweet and cuddly this morning, Cat Ballou popped into my head. Cat Ballou was a cat my first husband owned before I married him, and she was not pleased to have me move in after the wedding. Not at all pleased.

I painted the kitchen of our home bright yellow and white and covered one wall with the most beautiful flowered wallpaper in the world. It looked so cheery and fresh, and I was so proud.

And the next morning I woke up to waist-high scratches in the wallpaper, the entire length of the wall.

Ballou.

She hated me.

She would not let me touch her. She would not cuddle with me. When I took her beloved (my ex-husband) away on a trip, she would punish me by leaving poop in the bathtub. I am a cat lover, but I have to admit that I did not exactly love Ballou.

Now during this same period of time, my ex and I were both teaching junior high, and there was a student in one of our schools whose last name was Belew. Belew drove everyone crazy with his behavior, and at teacher parties, people were always sharing "what Belew has done now" stories. It was a conversation staple, as he was always doing something.

One of the teachers, Mary, moved away and some time later, she joined us for a visit. I happened to mention that Ballou had died. "Ohmygod!!!!!!!!!" she said, shocked. I was rather surprised at her reaction, as I hadn't thought she liked Ballou a whole lot more than I had.

"Brain tumor," I said rather casually. I mean, I'm not heartless, and I had been sad that Ballou had to be put down, but I wasn't exactly devastated.

"WHAAAATTTTTT?" Mary said, just horrified. "I can't believe that!! It's awful!!!!!"

She continued to ask for details, and I continued to give them to her. The conversation moved along parallel lines with me talking about Ballou, the cat, and Mary talking about Belew, the boy. It wasn't until I started talking about the manifestations of the brain tumor that we sorted things out. "Ballou climbed into the bathtub with my husband. That's how we first knew something was definitely weird," I said.

"Confused" doesn't even begin to describe the look on her face.

Comments

[Patricia Stoltey]

A great story -- I'm sitting here all alone in the NCW studio and just laughed out loud. That post is worthy of publication!

[Mason]

Patricia Stoltey had your link on her post and said this was a fun post. Boy, she wasn't kidding. I love the story. Cats definitely have a mind of their own and love to rule. Great post.

[Michele Emrath]

I came from Patricia's site, too, and can't stop laughing. Unfortunately, I can't share this with my toddlers! Ohmygod! So funny!

Michele
SouthernCityMysteries

[Kerrie Flanagan]

Cheryl, this is so funny--lol funny.