Damn that Mr. Rogers

This morning I was watching the end of Sesame Street, eating cereal and trying my hardest not to puke. And then Mr. Rogers came on. (No, he didn't make me puke.)

I haven't seen Mr. Rogers in years. And lucky me, today's topic was about pets who have died. And Mr. Rogers held up a picture of his (dead, I assume) cat, Sybil. He said, in that soothing, everything's-going-to-be-okay voice, "I'm sure glad that I got to be her friend for all those years."

So I burst into tears. If our kitty wasn't sick, I may have burst into tears anyhow, just because I'm pregnant and cry when I can't open a jar of salsa. This was really sad, but I was able to laugh at myself at the same time.

My buddy Stu has had quite a life. For those who don't know the saga of Stu, it goes like this:

In the summer of 1997, my sis and I were taking a road trip to New York. It was the last time Jax and I spent together as sisters before she got married that fall. We stopped for gas and cash (in those days, I thought nothing of traveling with no cash and no map) at the North Carolina border on I-95. As I walked into the store, a little orange kitten with enormous ears popped his head out the trash can and cried at me. I looked back at my sister and asked, "Should we keep him?" I don't remember what she said, but a few minutes later we were back on the road with a squawking kitten in the car. He endured the road trip with us and made it back to North Carolina.

Jax was going to keep him, but she was living at home. My mother grew tired of the boisterous kitten and soon he was on a plane to New York, where I had moved that fall. Since then, he has moved with me at least nine times, three of those times being interstate moves. He's been on an airplane, in a car more times than I can count and in numerous hotel rooms. He's lived with three other cats and two dogs. He's killed his share of birds, moles, rabbits, lizards and various insects. He's been with me through many boyfriends although Jimmy is the only one he's ever really liked (and that's one of the reasons I married him, HA!).

Stu has been with me through a period of my life that has seen the most change. At times, being responsible for him was the only thing that kept me from going off the deep end (and those of you who know me know what that means). He's had a good life and he's been a good friend.

I really hate to think he might not be part of the family when the baby comes. But I'm with Mr. Rogers on this one: I'm sure glad I got to be his friend all these years.