When a Palm Beach Gardens kitten (near where I live) made national news this week, I was quickly reminded of the laundry room caper from Tatianna—Tales and Teachings of My Feline Friend.
The news story goes that Gracie Mae crawled into her owner’s suitcase when he was packing for a trip. Then she found herself on an unbelievable journey including going through an airport X-ray machine, getting loaded on a Florida plane bound for Texas, and ultimately being mistakenly picked up off the baggage belt by a stranger. Can you even imagine coming home after a plane trip and opening what you think is your suitcase and having a cat jump out? Well, the Gracie Mae story ends happily as she is eventually reunited with her owners back in Florida!
When Tatianna was a kitten, she was curious, just like Gracie Mae. Her insatiable curiosity during her first year led to a harrowing experience in the laundry room. When I heard the washing machine shut off, I went into the compact laundry room where there was barely room for a person, much less a washer and dryer. I transferred the clothes into the spin dryer, closed the door, and turned it on. A noise, which sounded like tennis shoes hitting the inside of the dryer, startled me. Because I knew I was drying lingerie, I immediately opened the door. To my astonishment, there was Tatianna in the dryer! She was stunned and shaken up, to say the least. Fortunately, only a couple of revolutions had been completed before I had stopped the machine.
I was so frightened by what could have happened. I thanked God for giving felines their nine lives! Tatianna undoubtedly used up her first one then. It was indeed a miraculous escape from a near-catastrophic accident. I had thought she was upstairs, but unbeknownst to me, Tatianna had followed me into the laundry room. While I was focused on transferring the wet clothes to the dryer, she had crawled into it. To this day I always turn on the dryer for a few seconds, listen to it, stop it, and open the door to make sure no felines are inside!
I would love to have you comment on one of your cat’s nine lives—what happened and how did you feel?
Bountiful Blessings!
