Our "Lucky" Day

Word Count: 1147
Our “Lucky” Day
By Donna Lowich

Friday, September 13, 1991: my family’s lucky day. It began as an ordinary day. By its end, our lives would be changed forever, in a very positive and very special way.

Exactly one month earlier, we celebrated my son, Jeff’s, tenth birthday. We told Jeff that we would get him the cat that he had always wanted. Jeff sprang into action, doing research on owning a cat by talking to his friends and anybody else willing to give him information on the selection and care of cats.

On that Friday in September, I drove him to his horseback riding lessons. Nicole, his teacher, said to Jeff, “Go look at the side porch. There’s a surprise for you.”

He ran all the way up to the farmhouse, and then ran all the way back. “Mom! Guess what? There’s a whole litter of kittens! They’re so soft and cute! I’m going to bring one back here for you to look at.”

Jeffrey ended up bringing all of the kittens, one by one, for me to see. Finally, we decided that we liked a white cat with gray and black spots on his back. He had a black line on each side of his face that went back to his ears, so he looked like he was wearing eyeglasses. “We could call him ‘Specs,’ “ I suggested.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Well, we’ll have time to find a name that you like.” I paused. “How about Lucky? Today is Friday the thirteenth, so maybe it will give our kitten good luck.”

“Lucky,” Jeff repeated to himself. “Hey, I like that! Let’s call him ‘Lucky’!”

After Jeff’s lesson, we went to the store to get all the things we needed to pick up Lucky the next day, after Jeffrey went to a birthday party. He had been waiting for this day for a very long time.

Jeff hugged Lucky on the short ride home; Lucky clung to Jeff’s shirt in return. In the house, Lucky ran around looking in each room, and always came running back to hide under a table close to where Jeff was standing.

That night, Jeff went to his room with Lucky again clinging to his shirt. When I looked in on him, I was surprised by what I saw. I called softly for Walter, my husband, to see, too.

“Lucky is going to think Jeffrey is his mom,” smiled his Dad as we watched our son curled up on the floor with his arms wrapped gently around his new friend.

Their friendship grew and they became the best of friends. Lucky liked to go under Jeffrey’s shirt, and pop his head through the top so that they looked like a very funny two-headed creature.

A sixth-grade overnight field trip two years later was their first separation. Jeff’s return home was greeted by Lucky leaping in the air and loud meowing!

Three years after that, Lucky was strong enough to be able to open the back door and squeeze through it and escape to the outdoors. Unluckily, he chose to leave for his big adventure in January at the start of a very rainy, windy and stormy weekend.

Jeffrey and Walter walked out in the storm, in the woods, calling, “Lucky!! Please come home!” But all they heard was the wind howling through the trees in response.

Each day, they repeated their walk through the woods. But they never saw or heard anything that would help them find Lucky. It looked like Lucky was lost for good, and everyone worried about him being in such rainy, windy weather. Jeff said, “If only I knew for sure that he was OK, that’s all I really want to know.”

On Wednesday evening, I prayed for Lucky’s safe return. As we began to eat dinner, I said, “Listen! I think I hear Lucky crying on the deck.” Sure enough, Jeffrey and Walter ran outside, found Lucky and brought him back inside.

Everyone was overjoyed to see him, especially Jeffrey. We were surprised that Lucky was not wet or dirty although he WAS very hungry. Jeff fed him some chicken and hugged him close. Lucky followed Jeffrey from one room to the next. The two friends were back together once again.

Lucky’s personality endeared him to all of us. He loved to beg for chicken or turkey from the table, and didn’t mind letting me know he was waiting for more by tapping me gently on the arm! As soon as I’d lift my arms up, saying ‘No more, Lucky. All gone!’ he’d get up and be “all gone”, as well!

He loved to do battle with Walter, who would initiate the action by running his finger on the surface in front of Lucky. Lucky would use his lightning-quick reflexes to slap the offending finger! That was always great sport for Lucky, who loved the thrill of the confrontation.

Earlier this year, after seventeen years of excellent health, we received some news from the vet that no one ever wants to hear. My journal entry from April 1, 2008, says it all:

We got some devastating news today. Lucky has cancer…I look outside, and it is pouring rain. I think the whole world is crying with me.

During the next four months, one of Lucky’s daily routines was to sit next to me to be kissed and cuddled. During one of his days when he wasn’t doing so well, I held him close and started to cry. He turned, and looked at me with a sad but comforting expression on his face. He lifted his paw, and gently touched my face. He was comforting me!

Our Lucky lost his battle with cancer last night. He jumped into my lap for his usual “cuddle time”. He started wheezing and jumped down before I could do anything. The wheezing continued, and he lay on the floor. Panicked, I called Walter and we then called Jeff. We were going to take him to the animal emergency center about ten minutes away. Jeff came home and sat with Lucky for a time, holding him in his arms as he had so often done. Finally, he gently picked him up and carried him to the car. We never made it to the hospital. Lucky passed away the same way he started his life with us: in the loving arms of his best friend. He is gone, but his quiet courage and dignity live on in our memories.

Lucky was aptly named, for he was lucky to have a home where he was truly loved and cared for, but more than that, Friday the thirteenth all those years ago was luckier still for us as we adopted a little cat who brought lots of love, laughter and especially friendship, to our home.