I received Jimmy as birthday present on my ninth birthday. My mom obtained Jimmy through a friend who worked for the Toronto Animal Services. Before we had Jimmy my mom had received a female Siamese cat through this friend. Knowing of my mom’s personal affection towards Siamese cats, my mom’s friend quickly offered my mom another Siamese cat, but this one was a male. I fell in love with Jimmy the moment I saw him. He was 6 years old, but yet still so adorable. He was somewhat frightened by the new environment so my mom and I were forced to lock him in the bathroom with us while we tried to soothe his anxiety. The bathroom incident is something I’ll never forget when I think of my pet. While in the bathroom I told my mom I needed to pee, so I handed over Jimmy to her. I did my business, flushed the toilet and gestured to take back Jimmy. I hadn’t closed the toilet seat yet, and Jimmy being rather frisky slipped out of my grip and into the toilet. At that moment I gained a rather deep affection for my new wily friend.
He was very trustworthy from the start, which was essential for me in order to spend such an abundant amount of time with him. As a young kid I was always around the house if I wasn’t at school and having my brother being born about three years of having Jimmy allowed me to spend a considerable time with just Jimmy. The early bondage we engaged in by wrestling, playing and me just caressing his soft fur enabled us to sustain a long companionship. My brother can pick up on Jimmy’s favouritism towards me and is always jealous when I say I’m Jimmy’s father. From the time I have had Jimmy, Jimmy and I have been the truest of friends.
Because he is an animal it emphasizes the purity of which I care for him. He never has done anything to harm me intentionally and he only reciprocates when I offer warmth. His loud purring indicates his utter pleasant state when we are together. Moments like him lying comfortably across my legs, stomach down and having him gently paw leg are intensely satisfying. Sometimes he even suckles on my sweatshirt like I’m breast feeding him and while it tickles I can usually endure it for like a minute and a half because it’s such a raw outpour of love. Whenever I see Jimmy I gravitate towards him like he’s magnetic.
As he beings to seriously age it invokes new scarier emotions. I sincerely hope he doesn’t pass before I go to university. I can’t imagine what living in my house without Jimmy would feel like. I think if I’ll remember all the fond moments we shared. I think of how I will remember how he looked. I think if I will ever have a pet that I’m as emotionally attached to. Thinking these thoughts really have made me spend as much time possible with Jimmy as I can. He’s still in great health but he has a bit of a limp, which is only getting worse. But for the most part he is the same loving and giving cat that I remember in my youth. Coming to grips with the inevitable is hard. I deal with it slowly by realizing that once he dies I will look back and realize how fulfilling our relationship has been. It is still very tough to address a future pain that I would almost prefer to act ignorant about.
