| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
 Posted - 01/18/2007 : 05:53:14 AM
|
KU`U POPOKI ALOHA
I was menopausal and depressed. My girls were now adults, one living with her aunt and one going to college and serving in the Army Reserves. My life consisted of going to work and house cleaning. And the highlight of the week was going to the grocery store. I would get up about 5:00 every Saturday morning and rush through my chores. I would have my part of the housework done before my husband ever awoke. The kitchen would be spit shined, the floors gleaming. The bathroom would be deodorized and sanitized. The weekly dinner menus would be prepared, the recipes collected and the shopping list made. I was in control and efficient. Then why was I so sad? That Saturday morning in May, after my husband woke up and had nerve to run water to make coffee into the stainless steel sink I had just polished, I lost it. I just started bawling. I felt so frustrated that I had worked so hard to clean the house while the rest of the house was asleep and he had the NERVE to get water drops into my clean sink. I just started crying and crying. I was shaking uncontrollably. I ran into the bedroom and lay in the bed. I covered my head with the blankets and kept crying and crying. That weekend the only time I stopped crying was when I had to blow my nose. My husband was heart-stricken and flummoxed. He did not know what he had done, nor why I was crying and carrying on so. Nor did I. That Monday, I stayed home from work. I went to the doctor's office for a sinus infection, but just before I got ready to leave the office with antibiotic prescription in hand, I started crying again. I told the doctor that I thought I was going crazy. I was crying and scared and worried and didn't know how to make it stop. He talked to me for a while about the stress in my job (working for the Defense Department as quality inspector) and about my worries of my daughter getting deployed to Iraq, and about many other things. He prescribed a medicine to help with the anxiety and depression. It started working for me within three or four days. But that weekend it was my birthday -- 52 years old. I was still feeling sad and worried because my mother died of colon cancer when she was only 52 years old. Once again, that Saturday of my birthday, I got up early and cleaned the house. When my husband got up, he did not even offer me a birthday card or a present. He did kiss me and tell me happy birthday. But then he left the house, saying he had some errands to run. Boy, was I ever feeling sorry for myself then. I moped around the house the rest of that morning until about noon when I heard his truck pull into the driveway. I was hoping that at least he went to the Italian bakery to get me one of those yummy strawberry cassata cakes. He was carrying in a fairly decent sized box, white with holes in it. I asked him what he had and he said look in here. I looked through one of the holes in the box, a small, pink nose and shiny, bright eyes peeking out at me. Then the next thing I knew, a tiny black and white paw was reaching out for me. He opened the box and inside was the cutest, tiniest little kitten I had ever seen, wearing a pretty pink collar. He said she was my birthday present! I couldn't believe it! This was a man who had nothing good to say about cats. We had several cats in the past and none of them would even condescend to acknowledge he was alive. After our previous cat had to
be put to sleep because of kidney failure, and because just this past year, our 17-year old dog had to be put down because of liver cancer, he adamantly pronounced that we would have no more pets. I had been moping around without a pet and I kept saying I wanted a kitty. I guess I was saying it just because I knew he didn't want one and I could feel even more sorry for myself because I was being denied a kitty. Talk about wallowing in self-pity! Oh, she was such a pretty little thing. She was very petite and had extra toes on her front paws. He told me she was a "Hemingway" cat, and maybe I should name her "Ernestine" in honor of Hemmingway. That did not seem like such a good name for this perky, friendly little thing. I sat in the chair and she came right over to me. She crawled up onto my shoulder and started rubbing her little head against my cheek, all the while purring so loudly. Oh, she entertained us so much that afternoon, jumping and leaping around, climbing on things, even though she was so tiny. I thought to give her a Hawaiian name because my husband and I had made the trip of a lifetime to Hawaii that past February, and had fallen in love with the Aloha spirit. So, I thought maybe I would name her some pampered name in Hawaiian. I had to give her a Hawaiian name because it was so obviously a gift of love from my husband to give me such a tiny, beautiful kitty even though he abhorred cats. It was true aloha. Selfless. Given only to make me happy once again. This kitty was so full of aloha as well. As soon as my husband sat on the couch, the baby kitty crawled up on his chest as well and started purring. After a while, she fell asleep on his chest, loving him unconditionally and without regard to whether he liked kitties or not. She was the true aloha kitty. After she woke up from her nap, she was running and playing and jumping on the box that she came to our house in. As she was standing on the box which lay in the living room, turned on its side, the box started shaking and jiggling because it wasn't very sturdy. But that little kitty hung on to that box, still purring all the while. She was so cute and delightful. I decided right then I would name her "Oni'Oni" after one of my favorite Bruddah Iz songs -- Henehene Kou Aka. It was a cute song about when the streetcars used to run in Honolulu and about the passengers getting bounced around. Oni'oni means to bounce. This kitty took to the name very well. She was the most lovable, playful cat I had ever seen. She brought such delight to anyone who saw her. She was not afraid of any strangers who came into the house. She loved everyone, unconditionally. And smart, too! She learned her name
within a couple of days; she learned to come to dinner when I called her, within just a couple of days. She learned names for her toys, learned what "birds" were when she looked out the window. She put her head inside every box or bag she could find. And she loved things mechanical. She watched fascinated every time my husband worked on the pipes, or printed a page on the computer printer, or screwed in a light bulb. This kitty has brought me so much joy. But moreover, after being married to my husband for 31 years, I learned that the love just gets deeper and deeper as the years go on. His gift to me that birthday was one of the most selfless gifts I have ever seen. She was not an expensive, fancy breed of kitty -- only an adoptee from the pet store, The value of the present he gave me that day can never be assessed. True, unconditional love is what he gave me. He gave me Aloha. And if you ask him today what he thinks of the kitty, he gives her high praise indeed. "She's not bad for a kitty."
|
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
|
|
`Ilio Nui
`Olu`olu
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2007 : 09:29:32 AM
|
Mahalo for such a beautiful story,
`Ilio |
 |
|
|
javeiro
Lokahi
USA
459 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2007 : 12:45:36 PM
|
| Thanks you for your beautiful story, happy birthday, and congratulations on your new kitty. |
Aloha,
John A. |
|
|
|
hawaiianmusiclover06
`Olu`olu
USA
562 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2007 : 1:46:58 PM
|
| Mahalo for sharing your story. Hau'oli La Hanau (Happy Birthday) and congratulations on 'Oni'oni, your new kitty. |
Aloha Kakou, maluhia a me aloha mau loa (Hello everyone, peace and love forever) |
|
|
|
Podagee57
Lokahi
USA
280 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2007 : 11:33:54 AM
|
| What a great story. It's amazing what joy a pet can bring to your life. Hang in there girl, life has it's ups and downs but you'll get through it....with the help of Oni Oni and a loving husband. |
What? You mean high "E" is the TOP string. No way dude! That changes everything! |
|
|
|
RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 01/20/2007 : 9:04:02 PM
|
| I really loved your story. |
Bob |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
