Who would have thought? After my husband died, and the rest of my friends and family left for their respective homes, here I was in the house by myself…except for two very important companions: my cats. There are two – an older, 13-year-old female (10 pounds) and a little one-year-old black dynamo who loves to race up and down the stairs.

Please do not mistake me for one of the people who will organize their life around their pets; other than the two feeding times, my “girls” are very self-sustaining.   But I would never have believed how comforting it is just to have a cat lying on a chair in the same room. Little Arya (and, yes, often Underfoot) does not obviously follow me from room to room, but if I change locations, a few minutes later she will drift in and take a chair – if possible, next to a window. She is tiny and quiet and black, but a great companion.  As I write she is at eye-level, asleep on the cat tree at my elbow (next to the window).

Another unexpected gift that the cats have presented is an ongoing banter with the house-sitter, cat-feeder (new friend) that has become a necessary part of my singular life. His one-line texts at feeding times rapidly became a life-line on one 5-day trip. He has become a great resource for house-related service needs.

Time to go feed the girls!