Optimistic Commitments

As I was comtemplating my garden and my navel yesterday pre-rain storm while having a plant epiphany (it suddenly came to me that pumpkin plant leaves are actually big ass green funnels, the reason they are so wide and have that notch by their stem is so they can catch rain and direct the water to stream down the stem to the rootlets the vine puts down because there is no way in hell the original root ball is going to be able to take care of the miles of vine they put out), I realized that having my three cats is a valiant show of optimism.

What I mean is, having a pet means you are positively expecting to live long enough to take care of them and have them predecease you. Now I don't mean to dwell on their dying before me, but I've made the commitment that I will be here to take care of them for the duration of their nine lives.

I am their momma and I'm expecting to be here for them.

Hobbes is 11, Doodle is 8, and Moomin is 2. When Hobbes is 20, I will be 47. When Doodle is 20, I will be 50. When Moomin is 20, I will be 56.

The sheer optimism of this blew me away yesterday. It just never occurred to me. I never thought about it, taking the three of them for granted. Shame on me. I guess parents feel this much more intensely.

Sure I make tentative plans a couple weeks ahead of time, my job has me plan a month ahead, and I just bought a new car. Yes I look forward to coming home, to the weekend, to holidays, to time with friends, to new books, and to other things that don't happen right away.

But making the commitment to say yes to having a pet is more serious than that. It means you are expecting to watch over their health and well being and it's going to be YOU.

So having marveled that I could be so optimistic and how much they add to my life, the pendulum then swung the other way and I engaged in some major pessimism by trying to figure out who would care for my kittos if I wasn't here. That made me majorly depressed and I had to go take a deep reading break to get my mind off of the subject.

After giving each furry kid a kiss and telling them I loved them dearly.