Put Herself to Bed

Shay turned seven two weeks ago. She has only ever lived here in our house, except for vacations when she lives with her friend Mary. For almost all these seven years Shay can be found right beside one of us. Her first choice is Russ, except if he is on that terrible treadmill, Carter and I are a distant runner up pair. If Russ is not home she certainly will snuggle with one of us and not complain, anything is better than being alone.

After all these seven years we think Shay has finally gotten comfortable enough at home that she can chose to be alone. Tonight she was given her dinner before Russ and I sat down at the counter to eat ours. Half way through our meal Russ asked if Shay was on her bed in the kitchen. Since he can’t see her bed from his seat at the bar I looked down and announced she was not there. Russ looked behind him to see if she were waiting patiently for a treat from his plate and she was not there.

“I guess she put herself to bed,” he announced.

Sure enough, I went upstairs after dinner and found her passed out In the middle of our bed, with no idea if either of us was going to come up and join her. I don’t think she was so exhausted that she needed to fall over asleep at seven PM. Perhaps she has finally settled in and realized this is her house and she is safe and sound here. Seven years, that’s a long time to feel at home. I guess we can’t ever move, she won’t live long enough to get comfortable.