This morning, as I check my email before going to work, my “bumble bee” kitty, Liddy Kitty, hops into my lap. She’s a chunky girl, with damaged hind legs that makes her hop and bobble about the house like a little bumble bee. She came to me that way, a tiny, injured kitten, years ago, from the Independence, Missouri shelter. I don’t know why she is crippled, but that doesn’t stop her from seeking heat and human contact. Her loud and constant purr makes up for her rear legs that wobble and both drift to the right in a sideways gait.
Liddy Kitty, aka Bumble Bee, Cripple Kitty
She jumps in my lap and snuggles against my side as I type on my laptop. I pause to rub her head and ears, and she tilts her head back in the bliss of an itch relieved. I realize that this small, short activity prepares me for my day, a nurturing act that trains my hands to perform in kind, gentle, supportive ways. I am a teacher, so this prepatory activity is important to my interaction and success with students.
We all need generous hands, nurturing hands, gentle hands: hands that belong to us and that we extended out to others, and hands that belong to others that are extended out to us. Pets train our hands to become soft and smoothing; they train our hearts to become compassionate and caring.
If we pet our animals, they prepare our hands to behave calmly and beneficently. Our pets teach us things simple yet significant to our emotional and moral well-being.
Liddy-Kitty purrs loudly as her neck is scratched
The Blog Dog
