So, I’ve been a bit depressed, and I thought that a cat would be the perfect cure for my loneliness. I went to Petsmart and came home with everything I’d need for a cat: a collar, two bags of food, bowls, cat box, toys, treats, scratching post, and a name.
For those of you who don’t know, I recently moved in with a friend’s grandmother. About two months ago Mrs. Osborn’s husband passed away and the family really wanted someone who could just be there to help with a couple things around the house. They invited me to stay in the basement apartment, and I gratefully accepted. However a cat was not included in the invitation.
Living with Mrs. Osborn has been very pleasant. She has treated me like one of her own grandchildren, and it’s been nice to have some one around. Over the last few weeks I’ve been very busy with two jobs, and so much of my conversations with Mrs. Osborn have been me trying to scoot off to my next appointment without offending her or seeming rude. Much of the time my I-need-to-go signals, or even blatant comments haven’t seemed to restrain her from going on to the next story. I was feeling particularly rushed one day as a finally managed to close the front door behind me only to realize I’d left my keys inside. I meekly knocked on the door and she let me back in to grab my keys and rush out again. I felt guilty for cutting her off, but what could I do? I HAD to get to work. By the time I got to my car however a familiar voice came into my head… “Here I am living in this nice place, (did I mention rent free?) the least I can do is be available for conversation.” So I decided that I would plan ahead and make time to listen to her stories, sort of as my rent.
A few days later it was Friday and I was once again rushing around trying to get things ready for my weekend plans. The phone rang and Mrs. Osborn was apparently speaking to friend whom had also lost her husband. She must’ve asked Mrs. Osborn how she was doing in regards to her own loss. I heard her start to talk about it as I hurried down the steps, but something made me stop dead in my tracks and I listened for a moment and this is what I heard: “Every day, throughout the day I’ll see something, or hear something and my first thought is, ‘Oh, I’ll have to remember to tell this to Bob,’ and then I realize...” A moment later I was back to finishing the task at hand, but I made a note of those words. Later I was thinking about what she said and I realized that at the end of the day I was her second choice: she’d much rather be sharing her stories with the one person who’s really cared for the past 40 some years, but now he’s gone, and instead she’s stuck with some young girl who doesn’t know her friends or all the memories they shared together. And truth be told, she’s my second choice. With decades between us it can be hard to find common ground, but there it was: we are both each other’s second choice, and in our own ways we are both quite lonely.
What I thought would be ‘rent’ I see is really a part of Gods plan: I need her just as much as she needs me. God brought us together for just a time as this, and for that I am thankful.
