Just over ten years ago Chip came into my life. More importantly, he came into my kids’ lives at a very difficult time for them; a difficult time for us all.
A few months earlier I had filed for divorce from my husband – their father – of 20 years. The months leading up to my decision had been dramatic and traumatic.
Shortly after John left our house, my children began to ask me if we could get a cat. I told them I would think about it. But deep in my heart I longed to have a cat as I had not had one since I was in my early 20s; now I was in my mid-40s.
You may wonder why they all of a sudden wanted a cat. John was allergic to cats so we could never have one before. My kids knew I loved cats, but they did as well, even though their exposure to them had been limited to strays that came and went in our neighborhood. I strongly desired to introduce Joseph, James and Alessandra to the joy of cat ownership!
In early February I took the kids to a local pet store that featured rescue cats from animal shelters; they saw a cat they felt they could not live without, but I was hesitant. I told them we would go back in a week. Something was holding me back…
The following week we returned, only to find the cat they wanted had been adopted. They whined, moaned and blamed me for everything, lamenting the fact that if we had just gotten that cat... They should have known better; I was never one to make impulsive decisions.
Even though the cat they wanted was gone, there was another cat there that night. He was light gray and gorgeous; he had yellow eyes that looked like Halloween. In a word, he was amazing. He meowed, swiping his paws through the cage at us. I reached into the cage and picked him up; my kids smiled awkwardly. How sad that they were teenagers, but had never had a cat as a pet. In my heart, I thanked God that they had inherited my love of animals.
After holding the cat and petting him, we knew he was the one.
We paid the fee, bought all the supplies and loaded everything, including our new prized possession, into my tiny sports car. He mewed like I imagine he never mewed before. He was definitely not used to going on car rides, especially without a carrier. My kids had both a sense of wonderment and sheer terror on the five minute car ride home. They had never seen anything like this before!
Once home, our cat roamed from room to room, mewing loudly as he went. My kids looked at me, their eyes asking, “Mom, what do we do?” I told them it was natural for a cat to act like this in new surroundings, trying hard to convince them while at the same time convincing myself. It had been so long since I had a cat…could I really handle the responsibility?
We filled the cat’s brand new blue bowls with food and water. He touched neither. The kids worried, wondering why he would not eat or drink. I suggested we put a bit of milk in a bowl and he lapped it up like there was no tomorrow. He began to calm down after that, settling in, as did we.
I then told my kids the obvious: we needed to give him a name. I can’t even remember what names we considered, but we decided on Chip. It was generic and goofy, it suited a dog more than a cat, but we all loved it. And it just fit.
As the days went by, Chip embraced his new life…and we embraced him. My children adored him. It was amazing to watch these kids, who had never had a cat, love on the amazing creature that someone saw fit to toss out like yesterday’s garbage. That broke my heart. But seeing my kids embrace one of God’s creatures took the pain away, in many different ways.
Even though our cat’s name was Chip, I dubbed him my freedom cat. I know on the surface that may sound horrible, but I don’t mean it that way. I was married for 20 years and divorce was the last thing I ever wanted. But as the years went by, John had become more and more emotionally abusive. I felt like a prisoner in my own home and I just wanted – needed – some peace. I found a fragment of that peace in Chip.
When I divorced John, it was painful. Not just for me, but for our kids. We needed any shred of hope we could find. In a significant way, Chip was that hope to me. He was so much more than just a ball of fur with beautiful yellow eyes. He represented freedom to me because he came into my life when I had to re-discover who I was, a time when something that was lost suddenly was replaced by something found. He was a cat that we rescued, but, in reality, he rescued me. Chip was my freedom cat, in every sense of the word. I loved him more than words can ever express.
Sadly, my freedom cat loved his freedom more than he loved us. He must have been an outdoor cat in his previous life, but we tried as hard as we could to convert him. Silly humans, we were. Chip loved to hunt. Whenever he could sneak out of the house, he did, but he always came back, most of the time with a bird, mouse or something unrecognizable that he would place on our back porch. Until the one day when he didn’t come back.
We had only had Chip for a few years when we let him out one early morning and he never returned. Every day, many times a day, I would open the back door and call him. We frantically drove around the neighborhood to see if he had been run over. We searched every local shelter’s website. We visited many of those shelters to see if pictures translated into the real thing. Chip never turned up. I searched for him for weeks, knowing I would want someone to do the same for me if I went missing. I would not want anyone to ever give up on me. My search was futile. My freedom cat had forever found his.
Thankfully my broken heart healed, thanks in large part to a certain tuxedo cat named Dip. YES, Dip. My teenage daughter had talked my boyfriend and me into adopting Dip about three months before Chip made his grand escape. At the time we were so hesitant, not wanting to take on another cat. Soon I realized that, just like Chip, Dip was our destiny, our fate. Had I not had Dip in my life when Chip left, it would have made Chip’s disappearance that much harder. Just like God knew that I needed Chip to heal my broken parts, he also knew I would need consolation when Chip left. Dip was a God-send then and continues to be.
All of my kids have now moved out of our house and my boyfriend is now my husband. So it’s just the three of us now; Dip is a wonderful cat and grows more affectionate and precious each day. I love him with all of my heart. But Chip? He will now – and forever – be so much more than just a cat. He will forever be my freedom cat.