You Can Grow Old With Me

Trust takes time. Indeed, it did take time. A black cat named, “M’ow” lived in the high desert. Gradually, she made her way through my cabin door. She hid under the couch, under the bed and under the staircase. Though I knew she was in the cabin, I wanted her to make herself at home. I wanted her to trust me. Little by little, she began to eat her meals in the cabin. Little by little, she trusted me enough to sleep indoors. Little by little, she stopped running away. It took an entire year before she allowed me to pet her. Though if I moved too quickly, she continued to skedaddle and hide. She was still learning to trust. In stages and on her own, M’ow confidently believed that I loved and cared for her. Then, a big change happened. I had to move out of the cabin and back to the city. This worried me. M’ow would have to leave her familiar desert surroundings. How would she react to this move? She had settled into the cozy cabin. She had settled into life with me. We had settled into trusting each other. Building our trust took time. I drove M’ow down into the city, to our new home and carried her to the front door. She wriggled out of my arms and ran away. In an instant, she was gone…