I Remember Animals

My mother has had two of her cats succumb to illness, and is planning on getting another cat to keep the remaining cat company. If you haven't adopted from a shelter lately, you might not know that they screen people a bit harder than they used to. One of the questions asks the potential adopter to list all the animals they have had in their adult life.

Erm.

My father was a bit of an animal collector, and would show up (or in one case, SHIP home) random animals. I had several hamsters as a child obtained from, for all I know, the Hamster Underground. These were not happy pets. There were a few dogs rotating in and out for awhile, and cats? Oh, the cats. And guinea pigs. Rabbits. Mice. Hermit Crabs. A bird.

In conversation about these animals, my mother decided to selectively report the animals she's had in her adult life, because how do you explain that your husband was slightly nutty and well, you did what you could for whatever animal showed up. And sometimes, it wasn't enough to save them from a manual garage door. Basically, she's going to talk about the animals she's had after his death, all of whom died of natural causes or with veterinary assistance to ease suffering.

As we talked, I kept bringing up stories about the hamsters, the guinea pigs, etc etc, things my mother had forgotten. Because, I'm sure they weren't the monumental events that they were to me as a child - a HAMSTER had TWLEVE BABIES! And then she ate nine of them. It makes an impression.