The Cat with the Dirty Name and the Family Dog

You know that age when you start re-watching movies you watched as a kid and you realize just how much you MISSED as a child and how.. Well, naive you were..?

Yeah I didn't hit that til my 20's. And It was then that I realized just how BAD my father's sense of humor was....

When my parents first married my mother's mother gifted them a small black and white cat. Grammie was always (and has always) taken in strays to care for and love them. She's a good hearted woman.
So my parents kept the little ball of fluff and agonized over a name.

One night, while watching some film or another one of the guys during a birthing scene was speaking in French to the woman and saying "Push".

My dad decided that was the cat's new name.
It wouldn't be a big deal.. If the name translated properly into English.

Meet.. Pusé.

No. I'm not kidding. Our cat's name literally sounded like "pussy".
Thanks, Dad.

However, as a child I failed to make that connection.
My first word as a baby was "kitty". I grew up with Pusé.... Later affectionately re-named "Pooter".
(Lord.... My family really IS messed up).

As a result of my obliviousness I wrote papers all throughout elementary and middle school about my family and our pets. The number of teachers who probably laughed at me behind my back probably.... is every single one of them. Not to mention the countless numbers of classmates who, being more knowledgeable than me, got a laugh out of it.
That was probably part of my problem in middle school but... I digress.

Pooter was one of those.. Onrey.. Mean... Sneaky... Cats.... Wonderful at his core but also insanely devious.

I have stories of my dad giving this cat fun-sized "Snickers" wrappers... Pooter would haul them off into rooms and hiding places unknown... My dad thought this was a great joke... Probably gave the cat half a bag of wrappers before realizing what a HORRIBLE idea it actually was...


In the dead of night... My dad is drawn out of his sleep by a very explainable noise.

The damn cat has one of the Snicker's wrappers at the foot of the bed and has chosen now, of all times, to play with it.

He takes the wrapper, throws it away and gets back in bed.

On the verge of sleep my dad, again, hears that familiar noise... Another wrapper.... He begins to contemplate just HOW many he gave this cat...

He gets up, takes the wrapper, throws it away, looks for others, finds none... and gets back in bed....


This continues for several hours. The cat brings a wrapper into the bed room... my dad gets out of bed... Throws the wrapper away... Gets back in bed.... Cat brings another...

Rule number one? Cats can use ANYTHING to get back at you for revenge. Even plastic wrappers.

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When my sister and I were children my parents decided the time was right to adopt a dog.  We'd been wanting one for a while and a family friend needed to give up her Boxer.


So we ended up with "Missy". I would be lying if I said one of the softest spots in my heart wasn't for this dog. Missy was bright, intelligent, loyal, protective and above all else... Part of our nutty family.

Missy was the type of dog who would sooner lick you to death than ACTUALLY hurt you...But she looked mean. I can't count how many people crossed to the other side of the street to get away from her... She was only ever interested in greeting them.
Missy didn't have a mean bone in her.

In fact... Missy loved to dress up. This dog wore.... Tutus... Dresses...  Even once, she wore an apron and won a contest for my sister.  We used to get her involved in our dress up games.

That's not to say Missy was a saint. She liked to chew up the wrong things and make her fair share of messes.

This dog once ate an entire pizza in less than a minute while our back were turned.

This is also the dog who could say "mama!"
My dad once leaned over to her during breakfast and asked her "Who made the bacon?"
We would all SWEAR to you that dog barked out a "MAMA!"

My childhood with these animals was unique and filled with joy... When my family moved to another town I learned just how much I was going to need the strength of my family and these animals.

And while it's true that the good times don't last forever... They are wonderful to keep in your heart.