Samson

About a month ago, my brother went into his garage one morning and heard what sounded like crying. He hunted around until he located the source—a kitten so tiny it fit in the palm of his hand. My brother brought the kitten inside and fed him milk with an eye dropper. When he spoke to my mom that night, he told her that his intention was to find someone willing to adopt him. I told him if he couldn’t find anyone to let me know. You all know how much I love my cats, and because it was something my brother and I could share, he started sending pictures and videos. The kitten’s meow was precarious, his walk a cute little stumble, and the way my brother interacted with him was heartwarming. I watched one video of my brother leaning down to him, the kitten tapping his glasses and meowing, and I said to my spouse, “He’s bonding with the kitten. He’s not giving him up.” Then he named him—Samson. You don’t name an animal you don’t intend to keep. 

Look At Those Eyes

A week later, my brother took the little guy to the vet. The vet said he was a two and a half week old little boy. Two and a half weeks. That means he was only a week and a half old when he wandered into my brother’s garage, and it’s a very good thing he did because he was way too young to have been separated from his mother. Aside from having worms, the kitten was healthy, so the vet gave my brother a prescription for the kitten and they went home. My brother decided he was definitely keeping him. We sent Samson toys from his cat cousins, toys that Kramer, Bean, and Dante enjoy. While I fell in love with the kitten just by seeing his pictures, I didn’t think I’d actually get to meet him—especially not until he grew to full size—since my brother doesn’t live close-by.

However, I was wrong. My brother drove up to New York on Saturday to visit my mom. His travelling companions were his dog, Lily, and Samson. On Sunday, Father’s Day—our sixth one without Dad—G3 and I also went to visit Mom. We are going to have a busy summer, and both of us wanted to see her before we begin our travels. We were both also super excited about meeting the kitten. However, I was expecting Samson to be skittish and fearful around strangers. I was wrong—again. We walked into the house and the little guy let G3 pick him up. He actually loves to be held. He’s still really tiny—he’s only about six weeks old—and so adorable. He’s black—altough his fur is getting lighter and is now more gray on parts of his body—and he has wide curious eyes and long sharp claws, but the vet said he’s too little to clip them. When G3 put him down, I eagerly took my turn holding him and playing with him. He’s very energetic as most kittens are. He attacked the fish at the end of the fishing pole and chased the laser dot around the couch and floor. When it was lunch time, my brother prepared milk in a doll sized bottle for the kitten, and G3 and I took turns feeding him. We held him like a baby, and Samson held onto the bottle with his front paws and sucked back the milk. It was an overdose of cuteness.

G3 Feeding Samson

Our excited play exhausted him. He was wedged between me and a pillow on the loveseat and I was dangling the fish for him to attack with his claws. In mid stroke, his head fell back, his eyes closed, and he was sound asleep. Cuddled next to me, he slept soundly until my son wanted to cuddle with him. Gently, I transferred him to my son and Samson slept tucked into G3’s body while G3 also napped. 

Mom took us out for lunch. I know she really enjoys having the three of us over. We missed Dad, it was hard not to especially since it was Father’s Day, but we celebrated Mom in his absence. After lunch, Mom took us to Eddie’s Sweet Shop—an old fashioned ice cream place. It’s our favorite place to get ice cream, as it was once upon a time a favorite for Dad. I have so many memories of him taking us out for ice cream. He would have been so happy to be there with us, if COVID hadn’t killed him. He was never a cat person. He always preferred dogs, but I suspect even he would have been charmed by little Samson. 

My memoir about Dad will be released by Unsolicited Press three months from today. However, it is available for preorder. You can find out more about it here.