From Merilee's Journey:
Miss June would be at the wake to welcome grieving friends and neighbors. Could the pre-teen handle the stress of meeting them and her classmates? What would she say if her Godparents, the McPhersons, showed?
Merilee made herself available at the funeral home, feeling very adult for having come to that decision. If she became overwhelmed, she could go into a side room to calm herself down. At least Miss June was here to help her get through the ordeal.
Merilee heard so many empty platitudes at the wake as folks met her in the reception line. She absolutely hated it. “Your parents are in a better place” or “You’ll get to meet them in Heaven someday.” The all-time kickers were, “God works in mysterious ways,” “It is not for us to question why,” and “Bad things happen to good people all the time.” If that’s true, Meri thought, won’t someone please tell me WHY?
Tomorrow would be the funeral Mass at Meri’s church. She would have to endure more of the same sappy, pathetic, sympathetic words. True to form, the McPhersons were no-shows.
God help me, she thought.
From Liberty's Scrapbook:
A typical human might think that either a female cat is in heat, or an alley cat is very hungry, or perhaps both. All condo residents endured several consecutive nights disrupted by my incessant meowing.
There I was: a cat with no name, no home, and (I don’t know why Trisha looked), no balls. It was plain to see that I was handsome in my sleek gray and white coat and unusual white paws.
 |
| Liberty |
The scientific or “real” name for someone like me with extra digits is polydactyl (Poll-ee-DACK-til). Or could that be a person? Is Polly Dactill in the house? Average polydactyl animals have the same number of digits on their limbs and only one extra toe per paw. I got the Mother Lode!
Some humans call my type of cat a Hemingway, or simply the product of in-breeding (how tactless). My multiple toes are supposedly a birth defect, but I sure don’t FEEL defective. Me? I prefer to consider myself to be SPECIAL.”
Housemates:
“Callie was a bit on the chunky side” and was known for having “an extremely loud purr. Her motorboat imitation often led to her getting kicked out of bed and, at times, even the bedroom. (How come Mom’s snoring never got HER kicked out of the bed? Do you think that is fair?)”
“The affectionate Bubba grew into his tuxedo personality. He was a super-smooth (dare I say suave), loyal, and generally laid-back cat. I like to think of him as the James Bond of cats – always looking dashing in his tuxedo.”
About the birds: any cat would jump at the chance to snag a feathered flier. We had three choices on the menu. First, there were two parakeets (Pete and Repeat) who constantly taunted us cats from their cage. Then there was a lovebird named Rainbow who used to slide down (upside-down) on the vertical bars of his cage like a fireman.
 |
| Callie |
 |
| Bubba |
“The affectionate Bubba grew into his tuxedo personality. He was a super-smooth (dare I say suave), loyal, and generally laid-back cat. I like to think of him as the James Bond of cats – always looking dashing in his tuxedo.”
About the birds: any cat would jump at the chance to snag a feathered flier. We had three choices on the menu. First, there were two parakeets (Pete and Repeat) who constantly taunted us cats from their cage. Then there was a lovebird named Rainbow who used to slide down (upside-down) on the vertical bars of his cage like a fireman.
More Pictures:
 |
| Liberty |
 |
| Liberty |
 |
| Liberty |
 |
| Liberty meets Scoot for the first time |
 |
| Liberty & Scoot |
 |
| Liberty on our future pool bottom |
 |
| Liberty meets an alligator snapping turtle |
