We brought a new cat home with us last week during my scheduled break between chapters. She’s a sleek black cat whose shelter name was Cathy, but after much deliberation and observing her personality we went with naming her Normandy, or Mandy for short.
My heart was not ready for a new cat after losing Scamp only a month ago and she is the best possible thing that could have happened to us.
For one thing, she’s good for Mugsy, our last surviving cat of our original three. He had never been the lone pet in any household prior to our adopting him, and he joined our two-cat home. With those two having passed away, he didn’t know what to do with himself as the only cat. He howled for constant attention (which we gave him), was overly playful to the point of aggression, and generally wasn’t himself. As soon as Normandy came home, he mellowed out. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so calm.
She adapted to our house very quickly. Conventional wisdom says to keep a new cat in one room until they’re comfortable, but in less than an hour she was pawing at the door to explore. It felt wrong to keep her cooped up, so we let her out into the rest of our house. She explored fearlessly before finding a closet space to retreat to when she wanted rest, and that earned her the name Normandy, after the intrepid ship from Mass Effect.
And finally, she’s been good for my aching heart. I miss Scamp terribly, and whenever I dwell on his memory too long I still get teary-eyed. He was my constant companion, work supervisor, and cuddle-buddy, and his absence has left me feeling lonely in a way that only the passing of a beloved pet can. In the short time she’s been with us, Normandy has quickly become my constant companion and work supervisor. She’s not as constantly cuddly as Scamp was, but she’s also young and doesn’t like to sit still very long. There are burgeoning signs of lap cuddles and chest sits, however brief, so I’m confident it’ll happen some day soon.
My heart still aches for Scamp, and she even reminds me of Rascal, the first cat I adopted as an adult. They’ve both passed away and I miss them both, but Normandy hasn’t replaced them. As someone told me, she’s their successor. I think that’s accurate given the memories she’s honoring.
