Sparkey was a wonderful dog but much to my chagrin he came to me at the wrong time in my life.  My life was falling apart.  My husband had a full blown psychotic breakdown and had left for parts unknown.  I became officially a single parent of a three year old.  Life was hard.  The only good thing about my life at that time was that I was offered a low cost dwelling with the City of Montreal, and lord knows I needed it.  I could not afford paying for babysitting and paying my rent all at the same time with the meager salary that I was making.  Of course when I had the opportunity to move I jumped on it but then that meant I had to find a home for Sparkey. 

The city as we simply called it forbade animals in their dwellings.  You may remember from a previous story (see my book Picking up the Pieces or archives of Storytime Tapestry Newsletter) that I had to find a home for my beloved Tammy ??“ the miniature white poodle years before when I was still single and living with my grandmother. At the time, she was offered a city house as well.  Fortunately my uncle Bobby again came to my rescue and he took Sparkey.  It was a good placement; Sparkey knew him well and was happy to live there.  I guess he was even relieved; he did not have a three year old chasing after his old bones.   

The first years in the city house we were without animals and I just hated it.  I personally do not feel that life is good without the love of animals.  Though dogs were a major no no with the city as they barked and caused damage to the dwellings, my friend Coreen had convinced me to get a cat ??“ two cats actually.  At first I really did not want to.  I was afraid to lose my city house but Coreen was so persistent, and I could not look into the eyes of my then six year old and say no.  Coreen had two tabby kittens to give me.  She convinced me that cats were not like dogs and that the city would never know I  had them especially if I did not allow them out to get into other people??™s trash or cause havoc in any way.  I agreed to take them on the proviso that if the city ever found out and told us to get rid of the cats or get out my decision would be the former not the latter.

Fancy and Mercy were our tabby twins and Steven just loved them.  However Mercy died in front of my eyes after chocking on a chicken bone that she had happened to find.  She tore a hole in the trash bag to find it.  It was a sad day for Steven to lose yet another beloved animal.  But we compensated by letting Fancy have a litter of her own and thus we kept one kitten from that litter which we called Chi Chi. Chi Chi was truly double energy (chi is Chinese word for energy) and Steven had years and years of pleasure with his two cats.

Alas, the day came that the inspectors from the city came to our house to do an inspection which they periodically did with all tenants and they spied the cats.  We got the dreaded letter in the mail to get rid of the cats or get out and the rest as they say is history.  Steven didn??™t say much and that even worried me more.  I knew how much he loved his cats. 

I had thought that Steven didn??™t say much because he was hurting too much and though that may have been the case, it was not the only reason.  Apparently Steven had decided that he was still going to have cats one way or another. He just had to abide his time. 

Some time later, the city had relaxed its rules on having animals.  Every time they took a case to the rental board regarding evicting tenants because they refused to get rid of their animals they lost.  At that point Steven made his move.  He brought home the skinniest and most timid tortoise cat that you would ever find.  I could not break my son??™s heart. I let him keep Tao which we named after the Chinese philosophy of the Tao.  For more details you can refer to my book Picking up the Pieces or go to the archives of Storytime Tapestry Newsletter.  Tao lived with us until her death three years ago. 

Steven became a devout cat lover and though I became one too, my first love will always be dogs and I missed them terribly.  I missed my laddie, from my childhood days, my Tammy from high school years, and I missed my loving little Sparkey.

Carol Roach
winterose @ videotron.ca,

Carol Roach is a published writer and newsletter editor.  You can purchase her book: Picking Up The Pieces: A Woman's Journey at www.publishamerica.com, or www.amazon.com.  You can also go to your local bookstore and order it there as well.  If you are interested in other stories feel free to join her newsletter: Storytime Tapestry at: storytime_tapestry-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, or email her directly at winterose@videtron.ca and she will be glad to accomodate you.  Carol enjoys email and responds to every inquiry.