God's Creatures Great and Small

Ah, there’s nothing like a relaxing morning with a cup of coffee and a nice warm cat on my lap. My cat, Gladys has been spending mornings with me for years. She’s a creature of routine. So am I. My Bibles, devotional books, and laptop have enough Gladys hairs stuck in them to build a new cat. She’s my friend. She’s also on my lap right now, draped across my arms, making typing slightly more difficult, but I don’t mind. Just yesterday a memory popped up on my Facebook timeline. A few years ago, my dear friend Gladys came down with a bad case of fleas. She’s an indoor cat. She never goes outdoors. We have no other indoor pets. Where and how she got such a terrible infestation, we’ll never know.

I remember the morning she climbed up on my lap to relax, just like every other day. She just could not stop itching. I peered down carefully at the top of her head and crawling all over it were little black jumping fleas.

The sight of those fleas on my dear blond cat (she’s not orange, more of a light peach color) was a call to action. In our long and loving relationship, never once had I given Gladys a bath. It seemed to violate all rules of decency and she never needed me to. After all, she takes 10 baths a day on her own. But there we were, in the bathroom with the Dawn detergent at 5 a.m., coffee abandoned and Bible put aside, fighting the fleas. I was not sure how she’d handle a bath. Not many cats think it’s a great idea to be fully submersed in water. She has back claws but no front claws. She does have teeth though. I fully expected a battle. I thought the struggle would be epic. I underestimated the depth of our friendship. She was so miserable from the fleas that she just stood there and left me wash her, emitting a sad, forlorn meow from time to time. When the bath was over, every flea was visible on her wet blond fur. I struggled for the next 35 minutes to try to pick off as many as I could and throw them in the soapy bathwater still in the tub. She let me do it, though she was becoming increasingly anxious to exit the bathroom and end the torture. That day on the way home from work I stopped at the vet’s office to get a good dose of flea killer. We spent the next several days vacuuming and washing everything that could be washed.

Gladys never held that bath against me. We went right back into our comfy old routine the next morning like nothing ever happened. We’ve perfected our morning routine right down to the very direction she curls up in. One day she thought she’d try laying facing the other way and it turned out to be very weird and awkward for both of us. Kinda like switching sides of the bed with a spouse. Gladys and I have decided never to do that again. Someday she’s going to leave me and my crusty old heart is going to break.

Normally, at this point, I’d insert a scripture and tie it in neatly somehow. But Gladys is still laying across my arms. This means I can’t reach to the left or the right to pick up a Bible. I love that she’s giving me an excuse to be lazy. What a true best friend. She’s like a 12 pound Xanax. I’m so thankful that God created animals for us to enjoy like this.

Since it is Veteran’s Day and we’re on the subject of animals, I’d like to highlight for a moment the amazing SSgt (Staff Sergeant) Reckless. Reckless was a little Mongolian mare that was purchased and trained to serve with the Recoilless Rifle Platoon in the 5th Marine Regiment during the Korean War. The Marines she lived with trained her to carry 75mm ammunition and supplies to the frontlines during battle. She won herself a place of honor in March of 1953 when in one day she made 51 trips, mostly on her own, from the ammunition supply to the frontline positions. She carried over 9,000 lbs of ammo that day. After offloading the ammunition at the front, she would carry the wounded on her way back. On that day, she was promoted to corporal. She returned with the Marines later to Camp Pendleton. In 1957 she was awarded the final promotion to staff sergeant. She mothered three foals, Dauntless, Fearless, and Chesty. Upon her death she was buried at Camp Pendleton with full military honors.

To all that have served, including God’s four legged creatures, Thank You.