Saturday, April 30, 2011

animals are people, too!

well into my 4th load of laundry, 2nd dishwasher load and fresh out of nails for the pictures, i figured i'd sit down and regale you with our moving adventures!

the biggest moments both center around satchmo, kyra's beloved cat, who vanished during the move. grown men were nearly moved to tears watching my daughters persistent, gut-wrenching search...it was horrible. the worst was that we weren't coming back to the house that night - so even if he came home, we'd be gone. suddenly, one of the men helping us moved pulled up to the curb in his car (i hadn't noticed he'd left), hauls a huge black & white long hair cat out of his car and says, "PLEASE tell me this is your cat?" all of us were on the driveway, and kyra burst out laughing and said, "no!" he refused to believe her. "seriously? this is NOT your cat?" "no!" by now the whole driveway is laughing as he turned back to his car sighing, "i have to go put this cat back now." he drove off leaving the only smile i had seen all day on kyra's face - so to me, it was a mistake well worth it.

we sat on the porch long after the sunset - kyra, meg, sarah & i - while curtis (God love him) vacuumed up the house. despite many tearful calls and whistles, he never showed. kyra went to bed with a heavy heart, and so did i. there was some talk that he had gotten nervous and hidden in the dresser drawer, so she was holding out hope that he was locked in our u-haul. i didn't have the heart to tell her that she was betting on a long shot.

late the next afternoon, after closing both the sale & purchase of our homes, (with heavy hearts and no joy at all - kyra quietly crying the entire time), we finally pulled the uhaul up to the new house and flung open the back door. suddenly, screams of "I HEAR HIM! I HEAR HIM! MOM! MOMOMOMOM! SATCHMO IS IN THE TRUCK!" rent the air. immediately my heart leapt! i couldn't believe he was actually in the truck! kyra had not lost her best friend!

of course, he was in the last drawer we opened, wide eyed and numb - not even meowing by the end of it! and miraculously, he hadn't soiled the drawer in any way - bladder of steel, that cat!

now, 2 and a half days in, we are pretty much unpacked. pictures are on the walls, plates are in the cupboards, clothes are on the shelves... but most importantly our family is together. ALL of us. :)


2 comments:

Marilyn said...

What a great story. When the family moves, EVERYBODY has to move!!!!!! Love this story.

Johnny D. said...

Amazing. Satchmo obviously understood the importance and stress of the move and decided to pack himself for you. He intended no worry on you, I'm sure.