Relationship Skills

Since I am the Director of Feline-Human Relations for Cat-Dad Enterprises, I would like to be able to tell you that my resume is impressive with academic studies and published scholarly papers on this subject; but alas, it is not. Seeing the relationship that Cat-Dad and I have might make you think I have this whole feline-human thing worked out; but alas once again, I do not.

So how did I come to achieve this position? In truth, my sole qualification for the post is the experiential knowledge I have gained over my five years living here, and the deeper unexplainable emotional bond that penetrates to the very root of my soul. There is something in my heritage as a cat that has been reached, and it is this that cries out to be expressed. Call it instinct if you like, but it is what makes me happy to be Cat-Dad's companion. It's what draws me to be on his shoulders in the morning when he shaves, during the day when he calls to me for a hug, at night before he sleeps, and when the transition comes upon us.

It's very difficult for me to explain the feelings I have whenever I sit on his shoulders. Had my family not been rescued from the Shelter where I was born and brought to Cat-Dad's home, my life - had I even been permitted to live - would have been very different. But now I have a position of importance training other felines in the art of relationship building. That is an awesome responsibility, since so many of our charges have been cruelly betrayed by humans.

My training program is mostly by example, which is already a part of me. For those who come to us in deep emotional pain, I find that such modeling is more effective than ever trying to explain. They see our expressions of love and mutual support. All who passs through this home soon realize the importance of having a loving forever companion, someone who will understand the grief and the pain of our past, but who will help us to move on and build a whole new life.

When I was asked to write the final chapter for our book, Cat-Dad's Kitten Chronicles, I chose to end it with an example. That example was my attempt to suffice for words in conveying my relationship with Cat-Dad, and I believe it is still quite valid. I described how I would lay my head on his chest and simply listen to the beat of his heart. Soon, unconsciously, my own heart would slow until we became a perfectly synchronized 2:1 rhythm. Two hearts beating as one so that I could no longer distinguish between them. It is such times lying next to him doing absolutely nothing that means absolutely everything to me.

And that is the only way I know to describe how true feline-human relations should be.

With purrs to all,

Sasha
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To the world you may be but one, but to one you may be the world.
-Author Unknown