We Are Not Keeping That Cat

Journal

Day 1. Found her in the hay. Dad's exact words:

Day 3. Caught him talking to her during 5 a.m. milking. He didn't know I was filming.

Day 9. He 'didn't name her.' Somehow everyone calls her Pickles now.

Day 16. 'We are not keeping that cat,' he said. From the tractor. With the cat.

Day 27. He bought her a heated bed. 'For the barn,' he said. It is in the living room.

Day 41. First big storm. Someone left the mudroom door open. She was gone.

He didn't sleep. At 3 a.m. he was still at the window.

Morning. She was in the calf pen the whole time, keeping the new calf warm.

I have never seen my father cry. I'm still not allowed to say I did.

Day 60. We are not keeping that cat.