A Look Back

• KATHY GEARINGER –

“Cats are a very mysterious kind of folk.
There is always more passing in their minds than we are aware of”
                                                       Sir Walter Scott

For anyone who has ever owned a cat as a pet, this story is for you, although I doubt if we can ever really “own” a cat; they are very independent. 

Do not question their intelligence!

When I was a young girl about age twelve, I had a black and white female cat. She was very small when I got her; she would lie on her back in my arms and hold a doll bottle full of milk between her front paws. 

I never thought of a good name for her so I just called her “Kitten -Kitten.”

She and I spent a lot of time in my upstairs bedroom. Instead of going downstairs to let her out, I would put her in a basket with a rope tied to the handle. She didn’t seem to mind being lowered to the ground. 

After a time, I would call her. She would jump back in the basket and I would pull her back up to my bedroom!

I loved that cat! 

My mom would always let us kids have a dog and a cat. She had the dog spayed, but not our female cats. We enjoyed watching them give birth and playing with the kittens, and then we would find homes for them.

When Kitten-Kitten got pregnant by a long-haired neighborhood black cat, I was especially excited anticipating her babies. But when she was close to giving birth she disappeared. I called and called, and searched the area, asking people if they had seen her. 

I never found her and still wonder what happened to her.
So ends the story of Kitten- Kitten.  

Johnny Cake

When I was growing up in Mansfield, Pennsylvania in the 50s and 60s, my mom would put the roast and potatoes in the oven on Sunday mornings, before we left for church.  

The house smelled so good when we arrived home.

My grandmother lived with us, so there were seven of us gathered around the table: my parents, two older sisters, one younger brother, and me and my grandma.

It was a nice filling meal, so our tradition was to have apples and popcorn in the evening while watching TV. If we didn’t have a roast on Sunday, my mom would make leftovers. If we had a ham during the week, she would cut it into chunks, make white sauce, and we would have it served over slices of corn muffins, which we called Johnny Cake.

The meal I always dreaded was eggplant, which my mom would dip in eggs and breadcrumbs. I tried to eat it, but it did something to my tongue. I couldn’t do it. I was glad we were past the stage of making me stay at the table until I finished my dinner!

Kathy Gearinger is a resident of Lima, NY who likes to reflect on and share stories from her childhood.