The Cat Lady

When I was little I was always bringing home stray kittens. I couldn't pass one by without picking it up and sneaking it into my house. I was a "latch key kid" before the term even existed. So it was pretty easy to get the little rascals into the house, pretty hard to hide them, and really tough to feed them and supply adequate toileting opportunities. Back in those days cats came and went through open windows, exploring the neighborhood and having cat adventures, returning at meal times or if the weather was unpleasant. Even in a big city like NY it was common for cat owners to permit their felines this freedom. After all they were cats, and where did the expression catting around originate??
One fine summer morning I was laying around, book in one hand and cat (Whiskers) tucked comfortably against my body when a soft knock came at my front door. My mother was in the midst of mopping the kitchen floor and asked me to answer.
I opened the door to find an elegant if elderly woman on our doorstep. She was dressed in what would have been fashionable in the 1930's which was cool with me. If it was unusual I liked it even back then.
"Good afternoon. I'm Betty Wright." With that she extended her hand to shake mine.
Now I was decked out in my finest worn shorts and tee shirt, hair unbrushed and looking what could be called rough.
She lived across the street and had a couple of cats of her own. Well apparently Whiskers was an amorous fellow who liked to sit on her window sill and bang against her screen in an effort to pay special attention to her lady kitty. She wasn't angry, she wasn't complaining, she was concerned about Whiskers. Miss Wright belonged to an organization called Friends of Animals which would spay and neuter animals at no cost to owners. Now back in the day that wasn't the big deal it has since become (and rightfully so!) My mother sensing this would be the neighborly thing to do agreed to allow Miss Wright to take Whiskers and put an end to his carousing. A few days later she packed him into her cat carrier (a novelty I had seen in the movies but never in real life) and took him off to be "fixed". She returned him the next day, seemingly none the worse for his experience. (I was young enough not to appreciate the indignity of what he went through.)
I became friends with Miss Wright (the neighborhood "Cat Lady"). I would visit her often, and spent hours sitting with her kitties on my lap, sipping tea from cups with saucers, eating dainty little cookies, looking through old photo albums, and listening to music. Miss Wright had been a stage performer (singer and actress) in her youth. There was still evidence of her former beauty and in fact for a woman easily in her 70's she was remarkable looking. We would sing together, old songs, not the rock and roll I listened to with my friends. She encouraged me to sing, to express myself, to listen to music and read books.
As with all teens I grew away from our visits. I spent more time with friends my own age. I would see Miss Wright and she would always inquire after Whiskers and my mother (in that order) but at some point in time I stopped seeing her with her hat cocked at a jaunty angle as she pulled her shopping cart home. Back then I didn't exactly notice. What happened to her? What happened to the cats she loved so much? I am so ashamed I didn't pay attention.
Whiskers continued his moonlight wanderings and one day he just didn't come home. He was pretty old, about 10 I guess. Not bad for an alley cat. But thinking about him now I feel like crying. How sad I didn't learn to be responsible when I was younger.