Cranky Cat Saves the Day
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Cat
By Leslee W. Kahler

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.
~Cynthia Ozick

When I was a teenager, my father took a job in Saudi Arabia. My mom, brother and I moved in with my grandmother while my mom searched for a new place for us to live. My grandmother was a widow and lived alone, with the exception of her two cats, Patches and Smokey.

Patches was a playful, friendly, little calico cat, while Smokey was a huge, gray shorthair that had the disposition of the Terminator. The only person Smokey liked or even tolerated was my grandmother, to whom she was a constant and loving companion. Smokey would let people know she didn't like them by either giving them a cold stare or growling at them, or both. Anybody who came to Grandmother's door was subject to Smokey's evil stare and growls. (Keep reading)