The Cat Gods Have Spoken
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Lessons Learned from My Cat
By Kevin Porter

How you behave toward cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
~Robert A. Heinlein

My mother has a saying: When a cat finds you, or vice versa, the cat gods have spoken. In my small Idaho hometown, my mother took in stray cats that she found and those that found her. And many did find her — two from a local Chinese restaurant and some from local citizens who knew my mom would provide a good home. Through the years, there’s been a menagerie of felines — as many as six at a time. But none had quite the story of Jenny.

Jenny was a mostly black-haired tortoiseshell cat. As a small kitten, she was found on a rooftop, crying helplessly. Of course, my mother took her in. Jenny was skittish, and she took a while to warm up to you. Inexplicably, she took a shine to my father, who tolerated my mom’s cat obsession but maintained a staunch “I’m not a cat person” stance. Jenny would jump up on my dad’s lap while he was reading or working, and I would hear an “Oh, Jenny!” bellowing through the house. It took months, maybe even years, but Jenny persisted, and the “Oh, Jenny!” eventually disappeared. When Jenny passed away, my father mourned just as much as my mom. But I’m getting ahead of myself. (Keep reading)