Sunday, May 2, 2010

Did you hear the one about the cat?

My Grandma Zollinger suffered from Alzheimer's. It was hard to watch her fade, but we were fortunate in that she was able to continue living next door with Grandpa for a long time before she needed 24 hour supervision. That doesn't mean we didn't notice signs of her slipping sanity. She would forget conversations or events soon after they occurred and that would sometimes lead to humorous situations....sometimes it's better to laugh to keep from crying.


Anyway, my favorite Grandma story from this time period is the one about her cat.


I don't believe she met the cat alive. Grandma encountered the cat only after its death, but she really did love that thing. She found it some place out on the farm and immediately decided it should spend its afterlife walking along the gate behind her house. I hadn't realized we took a picture until recently. And here it is.


















This is Melanie and Stephanie posing with Grandma's cat. If you can't tell, that is a rib bone from a cow that Grandma used to prop the cat up...Grandma was always resourceful.


She was seriously so fond of this cat standing on the gate. We did convince her to move it off the gate and onto the fence and slowly moved the thing North until it was behind the well house. It seemed like a good idea....just to keep from freaking out the neighbors.

11 comments:

Breanne said...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Jenn said...

I'm soooo glad there is a picture to go with that story! Joseph has told it several times, but it's hard to truly picture what it must have looked like....I think it's worse in real life than I imaginged it!

Stacey said...

That seriously made my morning.

Elmer said...

That is so seriously disgusting...and awesome!

glarcy said...

Wow, if it's possible, it's even worse than I ever pictured it. which makes it better.

Mary Ann said...

That's hilarious and totally disgusting! I have always loved this story. Seeing the picture is absolutely priceless!

Jeff said...

That's creepy, and yet so awesome.

Robyn said...

I am so happy I finally get to see a picture (I think I am happy). I have always thought it was a great story!

Jessie said...

That's crazy, but totally funny.

Ali said...

I love how happy the kids in the picture are. That just adds to the creepy humor of it all.

Cynthia said...

I can't believe you shared this with the world....