A Tale of Two Kitties
The first time I lived alone, I had just graduated from University of Oregon, and stayed on in my college town for a couple more months. By day, I taught summer school to students with disabilities, and by night, I began classes toward a graduate degree. I was ecstatic to have my own place, a tiny, run-down one bedroom near school. My friends were gone, graduated, or back in their hometowns for summer break. Absent the college crowd, a peacefulness seemed to envelop the city of Eugene. The quiet evenings spent alone in my apartment got me wondering - wouldn’t it be nice to have a pet? But it wasn’t the right time.
One evening, while waiting for class to begin, I spotted a copy of the Eugene Emerald. Flipping through the student-run newspaper, I came across the want-ads. “Male and female kittens, free to a good home.” Funny coincidence, I thought, as I squelched the idea. At the end of the lecture, however, life had other plans. One of my classmates made an announcement, “My cat recently had a litter of kittens, and they’re ready for adoption. Anyone interested?” Fate was messing with me! This wasn’t the same litter advertised in the Emerald, but it was a sign, a date with destiny, and who was I to ignore it? That weekend, JC (Jill’s Cat) found her way into my home and into my heart.
JC was pure love, a steadfast companion accompanying me through so many major life transitions: from being a student to a new teacher; from being single, to meeting my husband to getting married; from having no kids to becoming a mom of four. JC was also my quilting buddy. While I sewed my first quilt for my husband as a wedding gift, JC supervised the project, lounging in my box of quilting fabric. She enjoyed the soft purring of my sewing machine, and came running whenever she heard it starting up. She kept me company as I sewed my first baby quilt for my oldest daughter, and vigilantly watched over me when I was on bedrest, pregnant with triplets. I can not reflect on my early beginnings in quilting - or adulthood - without being flooded with memories of my sweet JC; they are inextricably connected, reminding me of a favorite poem by Thomas Dilbeck:
In the afternoons when the house is still
and the air lies quietly upon the window sill.
The sun curled and napping in the hall
dreams my dreams.
Always of you.
As it goes, life moved along. New pets came into our lives, new quilts were made for our beds. My youngest daughter Riley graduated from UO in the spring of 2024, family history repeating itself. Riley studied Human Physiology, and for three years, volunteered as a student Athletic Trainer for the Oregon Ducks Football team. She and her coworkers would arrive at the sports complex next to the renowned Autzen Stadium, greeted by a clowder of stray cats who had made the grounds of the athletic facility their home. The team kitchen staff fed them, and the students and players gave them daily affection. The cats appeared to have been part of a humane catch-and-release program in which they had been captured, provided medical care in the form of immunizations and sterilization (the telltale sign being their clipped ears), then released back into the wild.
Riley became quite enamored with the cats, especially one she nicknamed Freckles. As graduation neared, Riley longed to give Freckles a permanent home. A surprise to no one, she rescued Freckles, gave her a taste of college apartment life for a couple months, then moved her into our family home after graduation. Family history repeating itself once again.
My new quilting buddy likes to prowl around my studio and find swatches of fabric to play with, or perch on my longarm quilting table, surveying the room of colorful textiles. By moonlight, when the house is still and the sewing machine is silent, Freckles hunts through my fabric, leaving a tussled heap for me to find in the morning. And it goes without saying, she’s partial to napping on cuddly quilts, especially if one of her people is snoozing under it.
I am keenly aware that my time with Freckles is borrowed. One day very soon, my youngest daughter will again move out, head off to grad school, and Freckles will accompany her. She will be Riley’s constant companion throughout some of life’s monumental transitions, as JC was for me. I find this to be bittersweet, but I’m okay with it. After all, I’m available to cat-sit, and I have mountains of fabric and soft, comfy quilts at the ready!