A man I know asked me what I am up to these days. I told him I am not up to much, just putting one foot in front of the other. Beyond that, my mind drew a blank as far as identifying specific things I am up to in my retirement. I told him every day is Saturday and I added this old clanger, I have nothing to do and it takes me all day to do it. Finally, however, I landed on something and reported it to him.
A while back, I noticed that our cat Luigi, who this summer lost a leg to cancer, was using his left leg and paw to scratch the left side of his head and his left ear. It suddenly struck me that he has no way of scratching the right side of his head and his right ear, so I dove right in. For the next 10 minutes, that cat was in a state of bliss. Cat parts that hadn’t had a good scratchin’ in weeks were finally getting some attention.
So I told this fellow about how I scratch my cat’s head and ear every day because he only has three legs and, believe it or not, that guy looked at me as though the hot sun had made scrambled eggs out of my brain. I could tell by his strained face muscles that he thought this use of my time was a complete waste. So I said to him, “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live in a world where leg-deficient cats are unable to scratch themselves.” I got the impression that he was okay living in a world like that.
But I think if he ever saw Luigi cavorting around on the couch while this human does what his missing paw can’t do any more, he might be inclined to think that I am not wasting my time at all.
After my 68 years of ripping around this old world, I have come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter who I love or what I love or how I love.
It only matters that I love.
©2019 Jim Hagarty
