For almost 14 years I've shared my life with two lovely purring souls Chandler & Ross. It's humbling to reflect on how much of my journey they have born witness to. Their presence has always been the essence that makes my living environment a home. I'm blessed that these 2 little creatures decided to share their love and spirit with me.
Although born and raised a dog person, cats have been a better fit for my lifestyle and accommodations. A few months after I moved to Seattle, a co-worker had kittens ready to leave the nest. My original plan was to adopt the male tabby and had a cool name picked out - Darien. When I was convinced to take in both males from the litter, I had to rethink the name thing. A cautionary tale to all would be pet owners and parents - don't joke about names as they will be the ones that stick. At the time "Friends" was starting their 2nd season. My sister & her college room-mates had recently adopted a shelter cat named Phoebe. I joked that if my kitties were Chandler & Ross we'd have half the Friends gang in the family. No other names worked after that. And I'm forever embarrassed when I have to first introduce my cats to another human. Luckily, they've transcended their namesakes and own the names in their own right.
Blame it on the cats ages, Marley & Me, my husband's passing and a bunch of other factors; but I'm acutely aware that their time with me is preciously limited. We're in their twilight years. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next year, but it looms out there that someday soon I'll need to be strong and do what is best for them. The ultimate price of pet ownership will be breaking my own heart to let them go.
In the spirit of love, honor and archiving, I want to share my buddies with you. How they became "buddies" is that I had too many pet names for them. Chuck was understandably dismayed when I'd accidently called him and one of the cats the same love nickname. Poor Chuck! So officially, Ross is "buddy" and Chandler is "little buddy" because buddy is the last thing I'd be tempted to call Chuck :-)
Today, I'll tell you about my little Chandler.
Chandler's Top 20:
1. Chandler's other aliases - little one, little buddy, sweetheart, dem spotted belly, sweet pea, grouchy old man and sweet cat.
2. Chandler's coloring is beautiful with unique marking patterns. He's blue/grey, cream and white. My favorite features are his little pink noise, the white markings on his face and his cute cream belly with grey spots.
3. Chandler has become much more social and outgoing as his ages. In fact if you are visiting, he is normally the only cat you will see. To quote my four year old niece Mairead - "Chandler is nice, Ross hides."
4. He is my witness test for character. Chandler hated with a passion the only real low life I ever dated (known as Michael #3). Luckily that relationship was short lived. But it uncovered Chandler's true talent as a character scout. And that's come in handy a few times over the years.
5. Building on #4, Chandler took Chuck in as his own. He just loved Chuck, heart and soul. And Chuck was so thrilled to be claimed. Here is a picture of Chuck & Chandler studying late into the night. Chandler would sit on Chuck's shoulders for hours keeping him company. It has a gesture that he reserved for Chuck alone.
6. Chandler purrs loudly. As a kitten, he'd purr so loudly that his whole body would rock back and forth. You can still visibly see his purring.
7. Out of the two, Chandler stakes his territory. In our home on Queen Anne, it was a brown velour living room chair. It was the most uncomfortable thing to sit on as it needed to be re-padded. But to Chandler, it was his throne. We'd place blankets on it in the winter to help keep him warm. My favorite picture of Chandler is below on his chair snuggling Chuck's red wool jacket.
8. Chandler loves to join me when I am taking a bath. He will pull himself up on the tub edge for kisses and head bumps. A few times he's gingerly stepped onto my chest as I've been lounging in the tub. Believe me those were not relaxing soaks. I was petrified that he'd be startled, get wet and claw me from chin to nave trying to escape.
9. Chandler is the curious one. Supervising cooking, cleaning, decorating etc. One Christmas in the studio apt, he sat on a chair and watched me put every ornament on the tree.
10. Chandler loves the deck and in the warm weather is constantly out there inspecting his garden.
11. Chandler freaks out if he sees the bottom of his food bowl. When you next fill it, he will eat and eat until he is sick. I attribute that to living in a house with 12 other cats in his young life.
12. Chandler scared the living daylights out of me during my last moments with Chuck's body. He leap onto my leg at the same proximity as Chuck's hand. It felt like Chuck was grabbing onto me saying "I'm not ready yet." And I screamed one of those blood curling horror movie screams before I figured out it was Chandler. Oh my god, we were both completely freaked out. Not my finest hour. But I can guarantee it gave Chuck a laugh looking down.
13. Since I bought the Mac, Chandler's favorite place is on my desk. Of course when I am trying to type he lays on my hand or keyboard. And if I'm reading he stands in front of the monitor. But what gets my heart strings is the little head placed on my hand.
14. Chandler snuggles for small amounts of time. He prefers to snuggle out of kissing range. Although he definitely tolerates the showers of kisses I've bestowed on his head.
15. Chandler's most annoying trait is that he will come up for petting and stand just out of fingertip reach. Usually when you are already pinned down by Ross. Silly cat takes some coaxing to move up the few steps to get into good petting range.
16. Chandler's pretty vocal. I hear about his day when I come home. I hear it if the food bowl needs attending to. I hear it if I disturb him. I hear it if he wants attention... you get the picture.
17. In my studio apartment, neighbors would tell me tales of birds buzzing my windows tormenting the cats. I believed them as my windows always seemed to attract extra bird dung. One fateful afternoon a bird stunningly lost it's way and flew into the apartment. Chandler had him trapped under the futon before I realized what was happening. I got the cats contained as best as I could and shuffled the bird into the kitchen. As I tried to usher the bird out the window, the panicked bird kept missing the window opening and continuously land in the cat's dish. That was ok with Chandler, but not me! Chandler broke out of the bathroom just as the bird made it's successful flight out of the window. He was all puffed up and excited. "Did you see I finally got a bird Mom, did you see?"
18. When I got home the afternoon we had the largest earthquake in recent history, Chandler had to guide me to all the things that were wrong. In the end it was a few broken glass pieces and some toppled clothes. He wouldn't rest until I saw all the damage.
19. Chandler is the official greeter. Chuck loved that Chandler would greet him and settle in for love every time he walked in the door. I love it still. I get moving so fast though that I need to remind myself sometimes to slow down and enjoy the affection.
20. After Chuck's surgery, Chandler and Ross would only want to lay on the shoulder with the scar and purr. I think they wanted to try and heal him with big doses of kitty love.
I'll be forever grateful to you Chandler for loving both Chuck & I with all you have.
You are a sweetheart my little one.
