So long Nibby, welcome Picasso

Nibby was definitely Grandpa's cat. He would come when Grandpa wanted him. He would follow him to bed, sleep with Grandpa until he fell asleep and then Nibby would stay up all night looking out the window, jumping on our bed or several other things that only cats understand. Before Grandpa woke up in the morning, Nibby would sneak back onto his bed so that Grandpa would be sure to think that Nibby slept there all night.

And if you dared even to try to move Nibby from Grandpa's bed or a chair or off the counter, Grandpa was always there to defend his poor helpless cat. Many a time, Grandpa's relatives got a tongue-lashing for something we might or might not have done to Nibby.

So when Nibby got sick and was put to sleep this week, I didn't really think I would get choked up with emotion. After all, this was a one-person cat, and I never was that one person. Nibby was a nice looking black-and-white male tom cat, but he wasn't what you would call affectionate. He was independent. Tough. And always made me feel that I was intruding on his turf.

Still, when I brought him into the vet's office last Tuesday afternoon, my eyes filled with tears and I could barely speak to the receptionist. Grandpa, on the other hand, was looking for the Men's room and seemed oblivious to the task at hand.

A couple of days later and I was starting to forget about Nibby and the tears that were shed...that is, until we got a letter from the vet's office. It was a condolence card but it also had a card with inked paw prints and the name "Nibby" calligraphed underneath. I saw the card and thought, "Is this some cruel joke...I'm tearing up again."

Yeah, I fed Nibby and hunted for him when Grandpa would let him outside and he'd run away...but I couldn't say I was ever close to him.

So when Grandpa said on Tuesday that he didn't want another cat, I had mixed emotions. On one hand, I wondered if he would miss his companionship that he had with Nibby. But on the other hand, Nibby never liked anyone but Grandpa so it wasn't hard to say that you really wanted another cat like Nibby.

But as the days passed, it soon became apparent that Grandpa had not forgotten his cat. Even though I had moved the kitty box, kitty food and dishes out to the garage, Grandpa still was relentless in his search for his cat and wondering where Nibby was.

So what was clear to Belinda, Scott and Derek, soon became clear to me. We had to find Grandpa another cat.

On Friday afternoon, Scott and his cousin Janelle drove to the animal shelter to scope out the cats. Scott called me at work and told me they had three choices but Picasso was definitely their first choice. At 3 p.m. on Friday, I met Grandpa, Belinda and Janelle at the shelter and I agreed that Picasso was definitely a good selection. He loved to be held and purred when cuddled.

Plus there was a story that came with Picasso. He had been found in a garbage can and given to the shelter. It seems that his previous owners had abandoned him. They put him in a cardboard box and threw him away.

How heart-wrenching...and yet it felt like what we had gone through. No, we hadn't been thrown away. But we felt a loneliness and emptyness after Nibby died. So it seemed like a match made in heaven. We would provide a good home for Picasso and just maybe Picasso would fill the void left behind by Nibby. Grandpa might yet again have a cat that will follow him to bed, put him to sleep and then jump on our bed to wake us up in the middle of the night.

No, Picasso isn't the classy dude Nibby was. Nibby always looked like he showed up in a black and white tuxedo. But Picasso seems to have a much better attitude than the somewhat peevish and very spoiled Nibby.

Anyway, we got a call at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday that if we wanted to adopt Picasso, we could come to the animal shelter in an hour and pick him up. In the mean time, I went to the garage and fetched the kitty box and washed the kitty dishes and put fresh water and fresh food in them.

Grandpa walked by me and spied what I was doing. He said, "It looks better already."

So in the period of a few days, it seems like our family has fallen into a great abyss only to emerge...hopefully better than before.