Showing Up by Barry Hughes

Cats. A sleeping cat, a happy cat and a cat that appears to be very, very angry. I wonder if this is representative of the fact that these kids have three cats or if this work of art depicts the same cat as this pandemic has stretched across the weeks. I’d love to ask. I am very curious.

I have never been a cat person. We were dog people in my family, never had a cat as I grew up. I have been a Basset Hound man for as long as I can remember.

After getting married and buying our first house, I brought Droopy home and set him up in the back yard. He was a great dog in every way. But one thing was strange; after a year we realized we had never heard Droopy bark. Ever. For any reason. He never made a sound.

One day we are watching television and suddenly the windows begin to rattle with a deep, strong bark. It took us a moment to figure out it was Droopy. He had found his voice! We jumped up and rushed onto the patio. Sitting in the middle of the backyard was a grey cat. Droopy was barking and prancing around this cat, as happy as I have ever seen a dog. We wondered where the cat came from and expected it to hop the fence again and return to wherever that was.

But the next morning it was sleeping in the dog house with Droopy. It ate out of the bowl when Droopy ate. Those two became inseparable. So I had myself a cat. We named it DC for “Droopy’s Cat”. That cat made several moves with us, never leaving the side of her canine friend. When Droopy died I thought that DC would never calm down. That cat stuck with his friend.

So, as I walked, those cats “got me to thinking”. Who has stuck with us in the moves, the ups and downs, of our life? Who has been a blessing to us, even though from all appearances, we couldn’t be more different? Who needs us to stick with them during these difficult and stressful times? Who would find their life blessed if we just showed up and stayed? Who knows, maybe these days are offering life changing opportunities for us all.

Peace.