Chelsie, Where Are You



"My Jeannette"



I lived in Clovis during the time she was in High School. She went to Clovis West High.  She and I got along so good.  I remember one day she asked me if she could have a kitten.  I hesitated but I said yes.  I don't know where or how she got a jet black kitten. She named it Chelsie.  The kitten soon turned into a cat.  Chelsie would follow Jeannette around the house.  I tried to get close to her but she just loved Jeannette.  Months went by and soon Chelsie was expecting kittens of her own.  Jeannette loved her Chelsie and always had her on her bed.  One day I walked into Jeannette's room to ask her something and found Chelsie on her bed and had given birth to three kittens.  I yelled for Jeannette and she came running out of the bathroom.  When she laid her eyes on Chelsie she immediately started crying.  I did not understand anything and all I wanted was for her to get that darn cat off her bed along with her kittens.  Jeannette told me that Chelsie loved her so much and felt so safe on her bed and that's why she had given birth on it.  I told Jeannette to get a box and fix it for Chelsie and her kittens.  She said, "Ma, I hope you let me keep all the kittens."  I did and she named all of them.  One was Christopher and the other two I totally forgot.  I do remember Christopher because he was so big and kept getting bigger and bigger.  He was as big as a dog.  After Jeannette graduated and left for basic training it was not the same anymore.  Chelsie ran away and I do not know what happened to her cats.  I remember Christopher chasing other cats in the neighborhood.  Jeannette told me that maybe Chelsie felt she had abandoned her and maybe that's why she ran away.  She went looking for her at the SPCA and even posted pictures of her around but we never found her.  I know Jeannette was heartbroken for a long time.  Years went by and she got married and bought kittens for her children.  To this day they are very attached to their cats.  I miss that about Jeannette.  She loved cats.  I can name all her cats during her childhood and teen years.  Misty, Chelsie, Christopher, Abby, Pinky and Rusty.  One of my granddaughters has had her cat since 4th grade. Her name is Midnight.  She was lost but six months later was found.  Jeannette always felt that Chelsie would show up someday at her doorstep.  I wish she would have.  Chelsie, where are YOU.