I was still in school – I think it was 1994. My friend at the time, Janie, wanted to get a kitten so we went to her aunt or cousin’s home to get one of theirs from a recent litter. There were only 2 kittens left when we got there. She chose a grey and white furball and that left this little grey stripey furball sitting there all by himself. Everyone knows my soft spot for kitties. I couldn’t leave that little guy all by himself, so I grabbed him and took him home for Andy. The whole drive home I was saying “I can’t believe I just impulsively adopted a kitten! What am I doing??”
I presented the stripey furball and it was love at first sight. Andy is a big Calvin and Hobbes fan, so despite his grey stripeys, the kitten was christened “Hobbes”. Andy and Hobbies were like peas and carrots. We were living in a tiny one BR apartment on Derrydown, but there was room for a furball. Dickens took it all in stride and seemed to like his new little brother.
The one big problem with this kitten was that he had not been litter trained. As a matter of fact, these people just let the kittens pee and poop all over everything – including clothes – in their basement. Hobbes had a nasty habit of crapping all over the bed or anything on the floor. One morning I was getting ready for work and he crapped on my nightie and the bed. I flew into a rage and told Andy to do something about that fucking cat or I was gonna take it to the shelter. I didn’t MEAN it, but somehow Andy thought I did mean it. I came home for lunch around 1pm and found Andy on the couch with puffy eyes. I asked him what was the matter and he told me he took Hobbes to the shelter! I was horrified and more than a little upset that he thought I was serious! I called the shelter and told them that he’d be over there shortly to pick up Hobbes. Oddly, Hobbes never peed or pooped on anything again!
I went home for a year or so after school to get a car and try to get some work. Andy had Hobbes and I had Dickens in Knoxville with me. It worked. I quit my job with SoftKey in 1997 and moved back here. I got a job at our local independent newspaper, Creative Loafing, as the Macintosh Systems Admin. With me having a job, we decided to move into a 2 BR apartment across the street. We settled in and the boys were happy. Eventually, I rescued another boy cat from a stupid neighbor. He was a baby orange stripey and he acted just like Dickens, so he ended up being DJ, which stands for Dickens Jr. He was almost Harley because of his rough purr. All of them loved their yard and the the birds and garden. We were there for another 7 years before Andy moved to CA.
One day, Andy came home with a tiny white mouse that he’d rescued from the dumpster at the Emory lab. Apparently the little guy got tossed accidentally with the packing that the mousies had been shipped in. Andy brings home this mouse (whom we called Bitey, because he was not tamed yet so he’d nip) and we show it to Hobbes. He was not impressed. We got a couple of shots of Hobbes with the mouse on his head! [pic to be added later] It was so funny. He had zero hunting ability like most male cats. Dickens looked at the mouse, but couldn’t be bothered with it, either. I’m sure Bernie would have made short work of it. (I can’t remember if we had Bernadette at that point. )
Anyway, Hobbies always loved his brothers and sitting in the yard. He’d lay on the back porch or skulk around the weeds. He was a mellow dude, our Hobbes. He really did love being outdoors, as all cats do. Just now, I see DJ flopped out in the yard with his belly up taking a snooze. Hobbes liked to do that, too. When they were young, Hobbes would tackle poor Deej and sit on him! They’d often rassle around the house, sounding just like two boys should. Dickens was too ‘mature’ for that kind of silliness!
When Andy moved to CA initially, Hobbes stayed with me and his brothers. He had a sister by now, Bernadette, which he also got along with just fine. After Andy got settled, he came back for a visit and took Hobbes back with him. I sat at the gate and cried for half an hour. It was SO hard to let them go! DJ, Dickens and Bernie missed their brother. I could tell that they were sort of waiting for him to return.
But time goes on and everyone accomodates. When Dickens died a couple of years ago, DJ was very lonely. He had no brothers any more, just silly girl cats. He and Bernie get along ok, but the newest one, Missy, hates everyone. She wants to be THE Princess. Hobbes would have found her to be too high maintenance, I’m sure!
I was concerned that Hobbes didn’t get to go outside in CA, but Andy lived in places with traffic and stuff and it just wasn’t safe. Andy got him a kitty fort and put it in front of the window and Hobbes would while away the afternoons napping in his fort. If I called on the phone, I always got a “BLAOW!” from Hobbes. When Andy moved to San Diego to work for Scripps, Hobbes was still happy in his fort. As Andy started to spend more time away, Hobbes began to put on weight. It didn’t seem to be a big deal at first, but he got up to 20+ pounds. Although his weight attributed to the FLS, we’re not sure why Hobbes got as sick as he did. I guess we’ll never know the whole story on that. :-/
I’m sorry for Hobbes having to get sick like that and not getting to go home again. He was a sweet, mellow cat that just wanted to be petted and talked to (he’d talk back). He loved his home and yard and I wish things had been different. But he had a good, long 12 years with us and I know that he’s happily sitting in his fort basking in the loving light of Bast forever.
I love you, Hobbes. You will be missed.