The Many Talents of Mems the Cat
He came into our lives one morning, and immediately showed his first talent. Mems the Cat could speak. Actually, he didn’t use words, but in cat language, he made everything clear.
How did Mems adopt us? Mom was in the kitchen one morning when something rubbed her leg. She jumped when she saw this big cat looking up at her.
He meowed and Mom immediately knew exactly what he was saying: “I’m hungry. What’s for breakfast?” This was the first Mom or any of us had seen this cat. With the kids outside at the time, one of us must have left the kitchen door open, and in walked Mems.
After feeding the friendly visitor, Mom could see sleek, well-fed Mems wasn’t a stray, so she sent us around the neighborhood and find out where he lived. No one claimed the cat, and so he immediately fit in with our family. We named him Mems because he came to us on Memorial Day.
Another talent Mems had was his bedside manner. When a family member was sick, Mems would lie next to the patient on the bed for hours, purring his assurances that all would be well soon. We often called him Doctor Mems.
Mems appointed himself our bus monitor. Every school-day morning at precisely 7:25, Mems walked us to the school bus stop. He’d stay with us until the 7:30 bus arrived. School let out at 3:15, and the bus arrived at our stop at 3:30. As we stepped out, Mems was there to walk us home. Everyone knows cats can’t tell time. Well, maybe not other cats.
Mems was in our family for ten years. When the kids went away to college and our house was sold, Mems had already anticipated it. For several years, one of his daily routines had been to join the local mailman in the truck for lunch.
The mailman had his lunch break next to our house, and always had a tidbit for his cat friend. When the mailman heard we were moving, he asked if Mems could come join his family.
Mems somehow talked the mailman into it, because his new family had young kids. They needed a talented cat to nurse them when sick and be on time for the school bus.
