In Memoriam: Trouble 1984-1998

Trouble entered the Morenus household as an adolescent cat of about 9 months old. She was a stray, just happened to find our Long Beach house. We tried to find her owner, but with no success. I think she must have belonged to an elderly person, who either died or had to enter assisted living, and Trouble just got left behind. She was very sedentary when she first came to us -- wanted to spend all her time curled up asleep. I taught her how to play, how to climb up and down stairs, how to sharpen her claws, how to climb trees, what to do with catnip . . . in other words, how to be a young cat! She was always a loving cat, a great lap cat. Favorite toys were newspapers -- she loved to burrow under sheets of newspaper on the floor and wriggle around underneath. Sometimes I'd completely bury her under newsprint, and she loved it.

Trouble spent time with my brother Dan in San Diego while I was in school in Madison Wisconsin, and at our family home in Long Beach when I was living there. She joined me in Indiana in 1991, my second year teaching at Vincennes University. After that, she'd fly back and forth between the two states each summer, while I made the trips by car. Dad loves to tell about the time he went to the airport to get her, and the clerk at the counter said to him, "Are you looking for Trouble?" to which, naturally, Dad replied "Yeah, I'm looking for Trouble, you gonna give it to me?" while the other people in line got very nervous. Trouble also lived with me in Austin Texas when I went there for my doctorate. She battled cancer for the last 18 months of her life, finally succumbing in April 1998. We had a long happy time together, and it was very hard to lose her.

Pictures coming soon!

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Last updated 11/04. Copyright 2004 by Carlyn G. Morenus. Questions? Send email to cgmoren@yahoo.com