The Gift of Pumpkin

As you may have noticed I posted a picture of my cat atop my blog. You may wonder, "why?" Well, that is Amanda's cat Pumpkin, and I'm christening him as the "Great Blog Mascot." He was her wedding gift more than three years ago from me. I always knew that she wanted an orange cat named Pumpkin and so I set out to get her that very thing. I presented Pumpkin to her two day before the wedding when I arrived in Abilene. From the moment I first held Pumpkin I knew that he was a special cat. He would purr and rub his furry little head all over my face and would nestle into my arm as if it was the savest place in the world.

Some thought that a cat was a little odd to give as a wedding gift to your bride. After all, we both plan on living longer than Pumpkin (don't tell Amanda). Aren't you supposed to give a gift that can be kept forever? I'll admit that the cat was a bit unorthodox, but no one's ever acused me of being typical, so I thought it fit. Plus, there were many years and better paychecks to come with which I could purchase a diamond bracelet or necklace, or something like that. So I decided a cat was the best option. And I've never regretted it. Amanda is smitten with our cat. Pumpkin sleeps with us, he plays with us, he waits for us by the door to get home. He used to be mischievious, but he generally stays out of trouble. (Bonkers, our other cat takes that honor, now.) Pumpkin is a bit needy for a cat, however. You know how cats are supposed to be independent and apathetic? Most of the cats I've known you got the feeling that they didn't really care if you were their or not. So long as they got fed and scratched behind the ears every now and then. A lot of cats could do without the scratching behind the ears. Not Pumpkin. Pumpkin gets jealous, he demands your attention and he fights for it. When he was younger, if I was playing with Pumpkin and suddenly had to talk on the phone it was very likely that my leg would be attacked. It wasn't that Pumpkin was mean. On the contrary, he simply got angry because I was appearantly now more in love with this strange oblong object that I was holding to my face. It appeared that the phone was getting the attention that Pumpkin felt he deserved and therefore, as a cat, took his aggression out on the perpetrator: my thigh. This problem was solved when we got Bonkers, who now takes the brunt of Pumpkin's wrath.

So, I will never regret getting Pumpkin the unorthodox wedding gift for Amanda. One of the greatest moments of our time together was the joy and amazement that beamed from Amanda's face when I placed Pumpkin in her lap and told her she could open her eyes. She immediately began hugging him and smiling from ear to ear in a look of elation that has since only been matched a couple of times. One being two days later when I was finally able to make out her facial features as she walked down the ailse at St. Paul's Methodist Church in Abilene. The doors behind her had been thrown open casting sunlight into the santuary and silloetting Amanda in her wedding dress, creating a picture of an angel. It wasn't until she was half-way down the aisle that I could see that familiar smile accompanied this time with tears of joy. For those of you were there you know what happened next. Yours truly followed suit.

A week later we had ended our official honeymoon, moved into our new apartment in Fort Worth and, Pumpkin in tow, were ready to start a new life together as husband, wife and cat. A year and a half later we added Bonkers to that mix. We're happy now. Things seem to be running smoothly despite small setbacks and the typical stupid tiffs. As I hear Amanda in the other room command "Bonkers, bring that back!" I can't help but think that we're a family. Cats aren't kids, but they aren't bad practice, I suppose. I hope things don't go stale, and I hope that I'm never too comfortable. Sometimes I feel like I know Amanda so well, and others I don't know her at all. It's these times when I get that feeling again. It used to be my favorite feeling. The feeling of new love. I've felt it more than once since I began dating Amanda, and it's always been with Amanda. That's a good thing. I can't wait to feel it again, and I can't wait to see her face light up again. Maybe I'll give her another cat.