December 21, 2016  -  Christmas Story No. 1

          We once owned a house in Lawrence, Kansas, that had two beautiful blue Colorado Spruce to the left of the driveway.  We bought the house in May and a few months later my husband’s job fizzled and he went ahead to a job in North Carolina the first week of September, leaving me [with the cat and dog] to attend to the house being sold.  September to the first of November slipped by with few interested buyers and no contract.

          On my twice daily walk around the block with my dog, Josephine, I noticed all the neighbors were putting up their Christmas lights.   I thought those two blue Colorado Spruce decorated with Christmas lights might interest potential buyers.

          Mid November I bought outside white lights for those trees along with electrical cords.  I borrowed a ladder from the nice neighbors across the street.  They were thrilled with my idea as they’d wanted to see those beautiful trees lighted for years.  The trees were about 10 feet tall and they took a lot of lights.  I had to run back to the store for more, but I got the job done.

          The first night I lighted them at twilight.  The guest room on the second story was directly above them.  The view was perfection from that window looking down on them.  Yes, they were well worth all the effort and my upper arms and shoulders ached from the stringing.

          When it got darker, I made myself a cup of cocoa and went and sat on the guest bed to enjoy the lights on my trees and the Christmas lights on the two neighbor’s houses across the street.  As I am admiring my trees I notice a big fluffy cat come up the driveway and stop a few feet from the lower tree.  It sits and its big fluffy tail wraps around its front paws.  It is looking up at the tree admiring it.   It stayed there until my coca was gone.  I thought, ‘How cute’.

          Every night when I came in from work it was usually dark and I would light the tree and then take Josephine, my dog, for her walk around the block.  It was a splendid walk with the entire neighborhood in stylish Christmas decorations and lights and beautiful door wreaths.  The last part of the walk was down a slight hill and when my trees came into view they were a beautiful sight.  It made going for a walk in the crisp cold air worth the trouble.

          Every night I would make myself a cup of cocoa and curl up to sit in the guest room and look out at the lights and again, the cat came and sat and looked up admiring the lighted trees.

          Just about every night the cat came to admire the lighted Colorado Spruce trees.  I wondered what caused that cat to come and sit and look at the lights on my trees. I quickly concluded it was my Christmas Cat Angel visiting me to make sure I was okay.

          When it snowed, the view was spectacular, especially the admiring cat as it moved its head to watch snowflakes wisp by.  It would have made a cute Cat Christmas card.

          My husband would return the day before Christmas and the movers were scheduled to pack us up on December 26^th and then we would drive to North Carolina.  For days I silently prayed that the Christmas Tree Cat would be there Christmas Eve, so that my husband could witness it before we had to take the lights down in order to be ready to move.

          Christmas Eve day I picked my husband up from the airport.   At twilight I turned the lights on and every 15 minutes I slipped off to the guest room to see if my special visitor had come.

          “Come see,” I finally called to my husband.

          “What?”

          “Just come.” I said. Taking my husband by the hand I lead him to the guest room window.  We looked down.

          There was the cat sitting looking up at the lighted tree and a moment later, big snowflakes started to fall.