B is for Blackjack

Last night when I was trying to fall asleep I was considering options for my “B” blog. I had some ideas, but I didn’t really like any of them. Well, this morning we found out that our outside cat, Blackjack, got hit by a car and died. So, of course there was no question about my “B” blog. B is definitely for Blackjack.

I bought this house in March of 2010 and about a month later, a curious looking tiny black cat wandered into the yard. We could tell right away that she was sweet, but she was very timid and cautious around us humans. She’d meow as if to ask for pets and then if you approached her, she’d walk slowly away hissing. It was adorable. She soon came around and was as much a part of our family as the inside cats. She was so lovey-dovey! She’d never tire of getting pet. We named her Blackjack because black cats are supposed to be bad luck. Ha!

About six months later she started getting fatter. And fatter. She was pregnant. She had a cute little litter, and all of them eventually wandered off except one – the weirdest one. This baby *hated* humans. Wouldn’t let us near her. She was black, just like her mama. Hell, they looked like twins once the baby got to be a few months old. Blackjack was a very petite cat, and so is this daughter. So petite, in fact, that we named her “Littles”. Not the most original, I know, but the name definitely fits.

She recently got impregnated yet again, by one of the stray toms in the neighborhood, and for whatever reason decided to have the litter across the street at the neighbor’s house. Well, that meant crossing the street a few times a day to come home and get food before going back to tend to her babies. One day, she either never made it to food or never made it to babies, because she was found dead in the road.

Ironically, Blackjack, who was far friendlier than Littles, hated it in the house whenever we’d let her wander inside for a few minutes. Littles, however, who hated us humans badly until just a few weeks ago, wandered in two days ago and hasn’t left. She loves being with us. We believe (honestly, we believe this, it isn’t for effect) that she came in the day after her mama died. Could she have known? Whatever the reason, we welcome with open arms a fuzzy new edition to the inside family.

Bye Blackjack. We will dearly miss you.