THE EARLY YEARS:
Summertime - 2014 my brother Chris found Charlie deep inside a recycling dumpster that he couldn't get out of alone at a public recycling station in Mcconnellsburg, PA. This was in August. Charlie was about 8 weeks old. We did not have a great experience will allergies with Drew with another kitten a few years earlier, so we knew taking him in might not work, but we did. Chris brought him to us within a week or so, and we couldn't decide if he would be named Oreo or Lamar. That was the year we went to Give Kids the World in September. We made this trip shortly after he came. Charlie as a kitten was fine - usual crazy kitten stuff, scratchy, energetic. He had one behavior that we noticed. He would attack your legs as you walked. (I only mention this for later). We had Charlie for about 2 months when we saw that Drew wasn't doing the best. His allergies were becoming an issue. I brought Drew to the allergist and we were told, "yes. you can never own pets". Drew is highly allergic.
Thankfully our neighbor Lisa took him in to help us find him a home and also wanted to see if he would be a good fit for her house with their German Shepard. Her husband did not want a cat, and Charlie "attacked" their dog when she approached at one point. Lisa thought it was funny though that a kitten held his own against a large German Shepard. Lisa said our other neighbor Jenny's dad was looking for a cat companion for his assisted living place. His cat had just passed away, and he missed a buddy. Within a week or so, Jenny's dad took Charlie to live in Frederick in his assisted living room. Mr. Beiter named him Charlie for Charlie Chaplin because of his distinctive mustache. I told them if there was ever an issue we would take him back. I had heard he was doing well, and Mr. Beiter loved him. He was doing great with all the attention, but he was a feisty cat, but very smart. These were the reports I was getting. After some time, we did not hear from anyone until Memorial Day weekend of 2015. Jenny called to say the cat wasn't working out at the home. He had been too feisty with the caregivers and was causing an issue, and Mr. Beiter’s health was failing. Jenny's brother took Charlie to their house, where Charlie quickly swiped at their family dog.
Jenny called to ask if we could take him back. We did. Charlie came back here Memorial Day weekend 2015, and I guess we thought it best to keep him in the garage and outside. He came with his cat tower (which was still his favorite spot in the house) and all supplies. Charlie spent some months living in the garage and coming and going, but monitored. He was never a completely outside cat to fend for himself. After so much time of that, I can't remember if it was the heat or the cold in the garage, but we decided Charlie could come in and live in the basement, in Amelia and Ava's room and coming and going outside. Charlie spent every night for years sleeping with Amelia and Ava. We were talking about him yesterday and the girls told me that they remember most of their English writing assignments in elementary school being about Charlie. For the most part Drew has done okay. We kept Charlie away from him, and Drew's room. We finally had a way to work with living with a family pet. All was good.
LIFE WITH CHARLIE:
Charlie loved to be outside. I couldn't keep him in if I tried. He would sit at the door, and cry to get outside. He would try to open the doorknobs, and actually could open all of our interior doors, not exterior doors though. Charlie would go out for part of the day. He rarely used his litter pan in the house. He always saved doing his business outside. That was great for me. He would come and go constantly. This drove Dave crazy. Turns out a huge part of my life these past years was looking for Charlie at the doors and letting him in and out. I miss that terribly now. Charlie never spent a night outside. He was always looking for his dinner at 5:30 ish, and came in for the night. If he snuck out after dinner everyone knew that was a huge problem for me!
As the years have gone on, Charlie pretty much had free reign of our home. He had his favorite spots - our ottoman, his cat tower, the bed in the basement. When Charlie was outside, he did what cats do. He roamed our yard and our neighbor's yards. Everyone knew Charlie in our neighborhood - for good and bad reasons. Charlie was super friendly to approach. He was not skittish, so everyone would approach him, or he'd approach them on their walks and in their yards. Charlie would take his scratches, and if he didn't like where he was scratched, or worse yet you stopped petting him, he would snap or scratch at you, or attack your legs. Charlie probably did this to every neighbor on this street. I know that's not good. I know it's bad. Thankfully no one got really hurt. He did it to us too. He snapped at Jenna two days before he died because she "combed him wrong". There were countless times when I'd be walking in the yard and he would "attack" me, or if we walked around the pool deck I knew that he had to walk in front of me. He was feisty like that. He loved attention just on his own terms. Dave thought Charlie didn't like people, but I believe he loved people, especially us. He was always hanging around us. The love was just on his terms. He was the boss. That's for sure. Charlie's behavior and indifference, and craziness was the reason why non cat lovers don't like cats. He was ornery. The worst case of Charlie's craziness was the day that Animal Control knocked on the door. Charlie was in, and when I opened our front door to the officer he went out and rubbed on the officers legs to greet him. The officer was there to report Charlie had bitten our next door neighbor's hand and it required medical care, and was therefore reported. Charlie loved our neighbor probably more then us. If our neighbor was outside Charlie would run to him. I don't know how he could see him from our doorway across the yards, but he did. The neighbor would lay in the grass with him, pet him, comb him, give him treats. They were buddies, and our neighbor always called Charlie, "such a good guy" even after the animal control incident. Charlie was quarantined after that incident for 2 weeks. Charlie had other scuffles in our yard. No other cats could come on our property, or dogs for that matter. If we took a walk, Charlie would walk with us. He would sit in the yard and hold his own to any dog being walked. He was more like a dog, then a cat. Dave watched him scuffle with a fox in the front yard. He ran inside after that incident. Charlie had 3 incidents where he was injured, either by cat or fox. He always recovered. He was tough. He shouldn't have been outside. Outside is not for cats. I grew up thinking that this was fine. It's not, and I struggle with that now. It crossed my mind frequently over the years that when Charlie did die it would be because he didn't come home, or an animal got him. I never thought a lawnmower accident, or car would be what would kill him. The only thing I knew Charlie was scared of was the trash and recycling truck. He would hear them down the street and wait to come in until they passed through. I’m sure there were more things…
Inside the house, Charlie's territory grew. He loved the couches. Charlie would watch tv with us at night and lay on his ottoman and bat at the window shade if it wasn't open on that seat. He liked to look out the window. There aren't many pictures of Charlie sitting on someone's lap, or cuddling. He didn't cuddle. He loved to be scratched, and combed, but only where and when he wanted it. We had quite a routine going. He would come in my room at exactly 5:35am every morning to be let out. He would sit on my floor and cry. If I ignored him Rose would chase him out of the room. They played that game a bunch until I finally let him out. He was obsessed with getting outside. Charlie would also shake the window shade so that I would wake up to let him out. By the time I woke up (7am) Charlie would be waiting for me on the front step and come in. Him and Rose would get their ham slice and it was quite the routine. Even Rose notices he's gone now.
I have to give credit to Charlie. Because of him we were able to consider a life with Rose and living with allergies. I worried like crazy for Rose's safety when Rose came into our lives, but Charlie never hurt her, but it took awhile for me to trust that. They had their chase play times, but no one ever got hurt. They adjusted to each other without any issue. Also I credit Charlie with our being able to help with kitten fostering. We make that work by keeping the kittens upstairs away from Drew, and it's worked. The kids and I are helping a need, volunteering, and doing something good. I don't think Charlie liked sharing the upstairs with kittens. I worried for the kittens safety as well, but Charlie never even came close to hurting one of our foster kittens. He was a good thing for socializing kittens. He had such a bad record with outdoor animals, us and people, but actually preferred ignoring the kittens. It seemed like he knew not to mess with them. Charlie loved tuna juices and could smell them, and hear the can opener from anywhere. He loved to eat Roses food, and Rose loved to eat his food. He loved fried chicken pieces, and cat treats.
If anyone came over to stay here, or when we were away having a cat sitter I ALWAYS stressed how ornery Charlie was, and to proceed with caution. He ALWAYS became every visitors friend. He was not timid of people and he liked being around people. I'd always warn the vet that he would bite at visits, but he never did. He would just walk all over the room like he owned it, and was very confident all the time. He was not skittish.
As you can tell. To me Charlie was special. His mustache was so cool. He was smart, one of a kind, a character and a part of our family. Another neighbor said that " Charlie ruled our neighborhood". He did.
He is missed, and I'm realizing now much my life revolved around him. Silly. I realize.
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