Mitsou

Submitted by Andrée Baillargeon

The house was so empty after losing Mitzy. After much hesitation, I finally was out the door to the SPCA when a phone call stopped me. By the time the conversation was over, it was too late and I had to postpone my trip to get another cat. When I got there a few days later, there he was — it was perfect timing as “Charlie” was ready for adoption. As I wandered around it was as if he was calling me, “Take me, take me.” That afternoon I took my new friend home. Only 5 months old, he was bold and curious — he jumped on my cutting table where I was working with a bunch of scraps and got right into the action! Pawing and pulling on pieces of silk … yup. He was so charming and entertaining and above all he made me laugh. He eventually made a little nest and fell asleep. Watching over him, his total abandon to carefree pleasure and sleep inspired me to play with my work. As I was snipping away at some fabric with him dreaming beside me, I remembered how I cried as a child after snipping off the whiskers of my favorite stuffed black panther realizing they would not grow back. As lore has it that panthers know the secrets of death and rebirth, Mitsou was named in honor of the whiskerless.