Diversion

We got the kitten on Thursday night. Her name is Sammy and she is the sweetest little ball of purr I've ever seen. I would have a picture of her, but she moves so fast and is so intrigued by the camera that I can't get a good shot. Serena is... well... pissed off and not shy about it. She hisses anytime she sees the kitten and growls if she gets too close. We kept them separated for a few days and allowed supervised visitation for a few hours at a time. Serena is no threat to Sammy, as she runs away and hides if Sammy approaches too quickly.
Serena is officially not speaking to anyone in the family. We refer to this as the "teenager cat syndrome." My parent's cat Toby did the same thing when baby Tigger appeared. Occasionally Serena will allow a few seconds of chin rubbing or ear scratching, but there is no purring, there is no sleeping at the foot of the bed, there is no drooling. I am actually ok with that last one.
Sammy has provided my husband with a little diversion and a little kitty comfort. It has been such a good thing for him.
He is hurting in a way that I can not even imagine - he's not even 30 yet and his dad was only 63. How do you deal with the loss of a parent? Also, my husband is something of a late bloomer - and by that I mean that until about 3 years ago he was living in his parent's basement, drinking his way through college and working at the station as a student ($6.75 and hour). Now suddenly he's a husband and a dad and a homeowner. This whole "grown up" thing is hard to get used to... and now he has this responsibility to his mother and his father is gone. I imagine he feels like there is no net below him, no light to guide him and a lot of unbalanced weight on his shoulders.
The kitten, though, is giving him moments of laughter. She climbs on him and settles next to his ear with her loud purr, she chases her tail and the other cat and shadows. Last night we were talking and he was very sad and in the conversational pauses where I would be saying "Uh huh" or "oh" she was "murrping." Does your cat do that? It's a cross between a meow and a purr. He couldn't help but laugh, which made her roll around and be cute. I'm so glad we got that kitten.
Bean picked out another kitten originally. A tiny, jumpy little thing. Sammy is about 4 months old and is much more sturdy and settled. As I was getting ready to complete the adoption with "Muffin," Bean said, "Mom, there's this other kitten I like." I was sort of annoyed because just five minutes before she was certain that "Muffin" was the kitten for us. But picking out a kitten is not something you want to rush. She took me over to Sammy's cage and Sammy stretched out on her side, sticking both paws between the bars. She murrped and closed her eyes and purred. "Wow," I said. Bean nodded and said, "I know."
When I left this morning, the husband was asleep (finally) and the kitten was curled up on him with her chin sort of tucked into the side of his neck. I could hear her purr from the door. I believe that cats sense moods and I believe in the healing powers of purr. When I was about twelve weeks pregnant with Bean I was on bed rest for spotting. We had two cats (the small one was 20 pounds) and they stayed beside me purring the whole time I was in bed. They would position themselves so that they were on either side of my hips with their heads resting on my tummy. When they moved it was one across my tummy and one across my thighs. They were protecting the baby.
Now Sammy is "in charge" of the husband. I know that a kitten will not fix the hurt and sadness that he is feeling, but she is doing something important and I love her for it.