Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. I generally lump the entire month of December into the idea of Yule season, but just through tradition December 25 holds a special place in my heart.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had that Christmas celebration of my childhood. We’d open presents with my mom’s family on Christmas Eve. Then we’d have our small family Christmas on the actual day. Usually we’d do a lunch Christmas at my grandma’s then too.
At the most recent, probably 2008 was the last time I had that sort of celebration. I was still married then. I wrecked and totaled the marital Jeep when we were on our way up from Jacksonville to visit with my family and then my ex’s. Fortunately no one was hurt, not even our dog.
So being alone for Christmas is always a little … weird. Even though I’ve been doing it a long time now. And even when my mom and I get together, the celebration is a lot smaller than having all of the aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews together. And then there are those who have passed over the years. Tonya, Great-Grandma Tillie, GPT (Grandpa Tom), my dad (only 53 years old). Both my my dad’s parents have passed, though we stopped celebrating the holiday when I was young over some sort of family dispute I never fully learned or understood. My cousin was murdered nearly 5 years ago. We lost Carla this year. She was only 57.
With Covid, the holiday was sure to be even more isolated. There’s no way I’m going to risk my mom and uncle’s health by visiting in Fort Lauderdale. I feel like our family got luck after meeting up over Carla’s death in October. It felt risky to travel and meetup with people.
So I have mixed feelings today. Some sad. But I also feel a lot of happiness. A lot of that has to do with bringing a new family member into the mix: Trinity Brew. Since the family already included two adult cats, Bubo (4.5yo) and Vélo (3.2yo), bringing Trinity into the mix has forced me to be mindful. You can’t just throw a new cat in with two others. Introductions have to be made under supervision. The adult cats need time and space to get used to the idea of another critter in their territory. In Bubo’s case, she needs time to cool off as well as acclimate.
Today has been filled with kitten watching. I woke early and let Trinity out of the bathroom. I isolated her there, because I didn’t trust the big cats over night. Particularly Bubo. And I don’t have a crate big enough for water, food, and litter. Trinity did fine.
I did my morning practice of stretching, meditation, and journaling. Though this meditation was different than most. For 10 minutes, I sat on my couch and kept an eye on Trinity and Vélo. It was quite entertaining. Kitten meditation is the best!
Vélo seems to respect her, backing off when she hisses. I think he legitimately wants a play partner, and he’s moving a little too quick with wanting to get close to Trinity. He’s impatient and doesn’t want to take it slow. It’s pretty cute. He’s brother-of-the-year in responding to Trinity, for sure. Vélo’s been so good.
Bubo’s doing much better than yesterday. She’s not hissing and growling at me all of the time. She let me pet her and even played a bit. She’s come out and watched Trinity for little snippets of time. Never getting close. Sometimes hissing. There’s still work to be done, but after yesterday’s reaction this seems like a lot of progress to me. Bubo will come around pretty quickly too, I think.
Trinity’s oblivious to the drama. Part of the day she’s been playing away. Part of the day napping. There’s a noticeable difference in her walking between morning and night. Her back leg still hasn’t acclimated to doing all of the work all of the time. I’m sure her back leg will strengthen though. She had her amputation surgery on December 11, only two weeks ago!!
Her temperament amazes me. She had, what looks to me like, a bad femur fracture. You’d think she’d be the meanest cat in town with a broken leg like that. But according to her foster parents and their pictures, that’s never been her. And two weeks from an amputation surgery, I imagine I’d be pretty surly. She’s not even on pain meds!
Instead she’s a lovebug. She napped on my chest this afternoon. She’s very gentle with me: no biting or scratching even in play. Sure, she sets her boundaries with Vélo when he gets too close, but she’s not aggressive with him. Just letting him know she needs some time and space. It’s only day 2, after all.
The more I think about it, the more I think her name is a good fit. Three is the magic number. There’s so much symbolism that goes into the number that I’ll leave that analysis for another time. But wisdom, life cycles, and mindfulness come immediately to mind. Little Trin seems wise to me in making the best of her hard start to her life. She seems much more interested with the love and play components of life than in negativity. There are good lessons there.
So though there is some sadness thinking about the passing of those I love and past traditions evolving into new ones, the predominant emotion I’ve felt today is joy. Joy in watching a kitten who started out with a hard life, granted with a lot of love and help, checking out her new home. Joy in watching her play. Joy in watching my adult cats slowly acclimate to the new being in our house. Joy in napping with these fuzzy beings.
I hope folks find some peace and, yes, joy at some point during this holiday season in whatever form it presents itself. Sometimes it comes in very small packages.