Have I ever mentioned my cat, Oscar? Soon after he came to us, about four years ago, we discovered several of his unusual traits. For one thing, his tail takes a sharp right turn as it exits his spine and then takes another not so sharp turn to the left. This strange tail arrangement provides him with a rather unusual appearance. In addition to that, his back legs flick out to the side as he walks, making me wonder what else might be going on in there. He has big flat ears and large round eyes and his nose is a bit wide. All in all, he’s a beautiful, though, extremely odd kitty.
But that’s not all, as Oscar is often found attempting and frequently succeeding in opening kitchen cupboard doors and various drawers all over the house. He has pulled out the stopper from the upstairs bathroom sink and bounced it down the stairs a number of times. The result of all this inquisitiveness has been a major installation of Velcro on multiple doors and drawers and in some places child locks too. A friend has decreed that Oscar is not a cat at all. He is an alien in a zip-up cat suit always searching our house for the portal to his mother-ship where he is expected to report back regularly on all that he learns of our human existence.
Oscar is the most unique, smart, odd, lovable, funny, entertaining cat I have ever known. So, when he became ill a week or so ago, I realized just how much he meant to me. Oscar ended up in the veterinary emergency hospital because his guts had stopped working altogether. Everything he ate came right back up and nothing came out the other end. And that pretty much killed his appetite for eating anything.
This all began the same day that our dear leader, the recurrent guy, had a feeling. Yes, and that feeling led him to unleash the full force and power of our military might on a sovereign nation, Iran, killing nearly all its top government officials on the first day. I know the Iranian regime is a very repressive one that tolerates no push back from its people. It has supported terrorist groups around the Middle East and the world, and has worked for decades to create a nuclear bomb. But starting a war, an illegal one without the consent of Congress, as the recurrent guy has done, is creating chaos and death and suffering for millions of people around the Middle East.
Feelings are nice, but there has not been one good reason stated so far that would justify this destruction. Terrifyingly, there has not even been a plan articulated for what happens next. We are the mob now with a boss that feels he can threaten and terrorize other countries around the world, invade them and kidnap their leaders from their beds in the middle of the night as he did in Venezuela, or bomb them out of existence as he’s doing in Iran.
But Oscar doesn’t follow the news cycle and besides, he was getting sick that first day of the war. On the other hand, I do follow the news. And as he got sicker and sicker, I realize now, I stopped being able to take in the full horror of what the recurrent guy was doing. When Oscar finally was sent to the hospital, I went to visit him twice a day to make sure he knew that I hadn’t abandoned him, that I would be there for him.
After all, he has always been there for me. It came to me during those hospital visits that Oscar has been helping me to not lose my mind as I watch the destruction of our democracy, our rule of law, and the world order. How could I possibly lose Oscar?
Here’s a bit of good news amongst the awful — Oscar is home and bit by bit, is returning to his healthy self. He’s eating with gusto, keeping it all where it belongs, and seems thrilled to be back home. I am so grateful to everyone who made this possible.
Yes, our world seems to be coming apart with each passing day, but I think we all need some Oscar in our lives to remind us that all is not lost.
Karen Gardner of Haydenville can be reached at opinion@gazettenet.com.