The Cat Whisperer

Last Thanksgiving, my whole family loaded up in the car and drove to St. Augustine to spend Thanksgiving with my Mother in law. She is the sweetest, most able seventy year old woman that I have ever loved or met. She has dug and built several ponds on her property.. built a six foot privacy fence around her entire yard for all her animals.. a ten foot high gazebo that is spectacular.. has a vegetable garden that has all kinds of food growing. She is the most amazing woman that I have ever been lucky enough to meet. I told her I was writing this blog about her, and said that I hope she didn't mind if I called her "eccentric" .. to which she said " that means I have money.. so just call me a little crazy ." She has 4 dogs (at last count), and at least 40 cats. Maybe the cat number is extreme.. but it seemed like that many to me. We arrived at 4 in the morning.. dragging in totally exhausted. The first remark my daughter made was " my Mama hates cats." She had her own bedroom made up for me and my husband.. fresh sheets, blankets and fluffy pillows. It was Heaven... She said "just don't touch or pick up the cats and you will be fine." She closed the door and my nightmare began. I turned to tell my husband that I was a little skid dish about the cats, only to see a fluffy tail waving back and forth in my face. I immediately heard a cat scratching it's paws under the mattress, and looked up to see eight pair of glowing eyes staring down at me from the cat walk she had built across the top of her bedroom wall. My husband said " just pull the covers up close to your face. I did that,only to find another "kitty" staring me in the face. I finally said that I was going to open the door to let some of the cats out.. did just that; and two more cats ran in. Needless to say it was a long night... even though we got there at four in the morning. The next day, I walked into the living room to a cat eating out of a pumpkin Pie that she had baked. My sister in law was there too, and we proceeded to help with the cooking activities. When you turn on a burner on her gas stove, a little "POOF" of cat hair ignites the flame . This does not bother Betty in the least. These animals are the most sacred thing in her life.. they are more important to her than her own health or well being. She is the most unselfish, caring and genuine person that I have ever had the honor to meet. Her animals are her family... she cares more about them than she does herself...and I love this woman almost as much as I loved my own mother. These animals that live with her are her being.... they give her comfort, love and feelings of companionship. Isn't that what we all want out of life? I might also add that she is one of the most talented artists that I have ever met.. You know what they say.. artists are aways weird.. but my mother in law is one of the most fascinating and totally perfect people that I have ever met. If she is weird.. I hope that I am weird one day too. Till later COTTON