New Addition

Before our daughter was born, during the Spring of our first tour, I had gone into town to buy cat food for my old lady.  At this time, Cinnamon was 19 and very grouchy.  While I loved spending time with her, it became readily apparent that she was not going to be with us much longer.

There was a store whose proceeds went towards supporting the local humane society.  Because my engineer and I both believe in giving back to the community, when we discovered they carried Cinnamon's food, we made sure to buy it from them.  I will never forget the day I fell in love with Nutmeg.

Standing at the counter, bag in hand, I visited with the young lady working the counter.  Just beyond my ability to hear clearly, there was a rumble.  Finally, perplexed at what I couldn't identify, I ask the young lady if she heard anything.  A huge smile broke across her face and she excitedly said, "Follow me."

Walking deeper into the store, she explained that they had the most beautiful, sweet cat that she had ever seen.  She continued to explain that the rumble that I heard from the front of the store was this cat purring.  Turning the corner, I saw her, spread out on her back, belly in the air, purring like a muscle car.

She was beautiful!  Nutmeg was a lovely sun dappled shadow with grays, browns, golds, oranges, and creams.  And she was HUGE!  My Cinnamon was only 6 pounds.  Nutmeg had to be 11 pounds.  I was smitten.  Calling my engineer, I told him that he just HAD to see her.  Knowing that getting a pet was a joint decision, I knew that she probably wouldn't come home with me.  But it was worth a try.

My engineer came out to the store with me after work.  After talking about the financial commitment that would come with moving her where ever we might end up, we submitted our adoption paperwork.  When we handed over our paperwork, the humane society worker talked to us about Nutmeg's background.

Nutmeg had been born on an indian reservation in a neighboring state.  Evidently, she and her sister had been brought into a mobile spay and neuter clinic that was run by the humane society in our town.  Sadly, the owner never returned for either cat.  So, with very little choice, the humane society workers had brought both of them back north.  The sister, who had been pure white, was adopted immediately.  Nutmeg had been there a week when we met and fell in love with her.

Nutmeg quickly became a very vital part of our family.  She has always been there when I needed a little gentle companionship.  Her high, cheerful spirits are also a constant source of entertainment.  Just as these things were true of her when she was a kitten, they are still true almost ten years later.

Yes, we have gone to great pains to make sure she never had to go into quarantine.  This has meant doubling up on her Favin Tests at times.  Never has it crossed our minds to leave her behind anywhere, even though she has now lived in three overseas locations.  When I hear people say that they have had to leave one of their "children" behind somewhere because they just couldn't arrange means to take them, my heart breaks because what it really means is that they just didn't care enough to do what needed to be done.

Our Nutmeg was our first daughter.  She has been by my side through two pregnancies, deployments, separations, multiple moves, and times when I just needed the simple comfort that comes with being loved.  I can't imagine a life without her.  Her gentle presence has helped to teach my children to be compassionate to others, and they, too, love the constance that her presence brings.