ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Cats have always been a part of my life.

When I was about seven my dad gave me a puppy, his theory being that dogs were for boys and cats were for girls. Well, I wanted a cat. So one day later he found another home for the dog. (Somewhere there’s a photo of me holding the puppy on a leash, looking like I’d just been fed a dinner of liver and Brussels sprouts.)

My grandparents lived around the corner, and my grandmother liked to feed to stray cats that lived in the neighborhood. I’d go over after school and she’d let me bring the food out to them. They’d follow me like the pied piper, but of course when I tried to pet them they’d run away.

Except for one. A beautiful, long-haired, black and white kitten. She’d come right up to me and let me play with her.

Mom said I could have a cat if I took care of it. You know, that thing about teaching kids responsibility. So I brought the kitten home. My mother said she was “cute as a button” so we named her Buttons.

Buttons lived eleven years, and that cat had a clock in her head.  My mother told me that every day she’d jump in the front window at three o’clock, waiting for me to walk home from school. Cat care came before homework as Buttons loved to be brushed. Allowance money often went for cat toys. And so the obsession with cats began.

Since then I’ve had many cats, and they all seem to find me. Strays, orphans, special needs kitties. I seem to attract cats that need help, or simply a home. I think cats have a sixth sense which brings them to cat people. And they also know when a family “has an opening” for a cat. 

So this book is for Buttons, my first cat, who introduced me to the unique relationship that’s possible with an animal. There’s nothing quite like the connection you feel when a cat locks eyes with you and looks right into your soul … and lets you feel the unconditional love of a pet.