I had such a wonderful time at my brother and sister-in-law’s for THANKSGIVING. I knew I would– but it was REALLY wonderful this time. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I brought Charlie with me. I was very apprehensive about taking him to Richmond with me, because Matt and Suzanne have a cat of their OWN named Toonces. Toonces is about 14 years old (he’s a very gorgeous cream colored long-hair), and has never lived with another animal– so I was afraid that he’d be very threatened over me bringing another male cat into the house (even though Charlie’s only 5 months old) and maybe lash out. I was also afraid that Charlie would react badly to going to another environment– that he would freak out and be scared the whole time we were there.

I shouldn’t have worried.

Charlie took to their house like it was his own– and he took to Toonces like he was a long lost brother. He immediately wanted to play with Toonces…. but Toonces was having nothing of it. He didn’t attack Charlie, and only hissed at him occasionally to warn him off (which didn’t do much good)– he never did so much as to swat him. But it was so evident that he hated having Charlie there and wanted him gone. I could actually see the wheels turning in Toonces head: “They’re not replacing me, surely….!” “Why is this little punk here….?!!??” Charlie was constantly after him to play. He wanted to play VERY BADLY with Toonces. He would face off with Toonces, trying to goad him into some play– and Toonces would get annoyed and trot off, which would only make Charlie chase him, which would then make Toonces run off faster. It was kind of comical– but I also felt very bad for Toonces. We were invading his space and making him miserable.

Charlie took to my brother Matt like he was in love with him. He would lay on his legs, or curl up next to him every time Matt sat down to watch TV. It was very sweet. Suzanne loved picking him up and scrubbing his head (which he took with his usual good nature). And my Mother and Father got a real kick out of seeing Charlie again. They think he’s hilariously goofy– which is true. He is.

The company, the food, the pets– it was all very wonderful. A THANKSGIVING for the books.

Mike