Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Baby Sweet Pea!


In the summer of 2003, as I was preparing to move out of my marriage and the house that went with it, my neighbor Brenda showed up at my door one day with tears in her eyes. When I opened the door, I noticed that she was holding the most forlorn-looking, flea-infested kitten I had ever seen. He was a tiny, black and white thing not more than six weeks old.

Brenda told me the heartbreaking story of how she came to have the little one, which she called Sweet Pea. She was at work and saw a man across the road trying to kill a litter of kittens on his porch by hitting them with a broom. Horrified, she ran over there while he was in the house and took Sweet Pea, the only kitten she could find. "My landlord won't let me have a cat," she sobbed. "Can you take him?"

Who could say no? Look at that face! I told her I would be moving in a few days, but that I would take the kitten. I know she desperately wanted to keep him, but her landlord was also my ex-husband's uncle and a real S.O.B. so I knew she wouldn't be able to.


Sweet Pea grew up into a gorgeous boy, and his name suits him. He is a real sweetheart! His nickname is Mr. Peepers, or Pee Pee for short.

He is about six months old in the ducky picture.

One of his favorite things in the world is the "Peeper Sweeper," my Oreck mini-vac that I use to sweep the cat hair from the stairs and under the furniture. All of the other cats run like hell as soon as they hear the sweeper getting plugged in, but not Pee Pee. All I have to say is "I'm getting out the Peeper Sweeper!" and he comes running. I vacuum his whole body, sucking his tail into the nozzle, and he flops over so I can vacuum his belly. The only thing he hates is when I accidently suck up an ear - it makes a really loud noise!

Sweet Pea is going to be six years old this summer, and he has been a joy to have around. I love him to death! He likes to sleep on top of my legs at night.

Brenda eventually talked her landlord into letting her have a cat, and she got Rascal. Unfortunately, she got sick last year and had to give Rascal up, but my mom took him as a companion for her Ringo. They look like twins! Rascal and Ringo will be another post.

3 comments:

Suburbia Steph said...

Ha ha! I love that he loves the vacuum! That's just great!

Liz said...

Great story. I have a cat named Pepper but sometimes I call her Peepers. She's not afraid of our vacuum either. But she's not as brave as your little Sweet Pea. LOL! Can't wait for your next post!
Liz

Pammy Murphy said...

Thanks Steph and Liz!