Do All For Cats

When I was in elementary school, I was the bookish type. I loved the library. I loved the librarian and her straight teeth and her long skirts. I loved story time. I loved it all.

So, in essence, things really haven't changed all that much.

There was one book, in particular though, that I absolutely adored when I was a little one. It was a hand-illustrated reference book called Cats, and I checked it out as many times as I could, I read it on the bus and in class and at home, and (just between us) by middle school, I halfway regretted not "misplacing" it at the end of fifth grade and just paying the fee to have it as mine forever and ever.

Unfortunately, I did nothing of the sort, and last night, like some kind of nerdy phantom limb pain, it was bothering me terribly. 

So, I did what any self-respecting blogger would do, and Amazon-booked the word "Cats" and the publishing year "1950" (which I only remember because it seemed old as dirt when I was 10) and hit search.

377 results. Lovely.

So, instead of sifting through all of those results (which got hopelessly weird after a few pages), I decided this morning to just stop by the elementary school and ask to look for it myself. 

To be honest, I almost expected for them to laugh at me and pat me on the head and send me back to my car. And I did get a sidelong glance, but eventually they let me go off on my merry way.

After a brief, not-so-dry-eyed stroll through the school (which has shrunk over the years like a little old lady [and kind of smells like one too, but in a good way]), I found myself alone in the (heartbreakingly refurbished) library, hunting and pecking through the billion Zoobooks to find my childhood love.

Find it, I did, still as lovely as ever. Probably left unread since my tiny hands last cradled it. As soon as I cracked the spine, tears were very nearly shed. 

I will be ordering my own copy as soon as humanly possible (read as: tonight, when someone who  knows how to work Amazon is available to help me). 

I am enormously happy, and I therefore dedicate this post to the late Mr. Wilfrid Swancourt Bronson, without whom my childhood would have been devoid of that beautiful book.

Thank you.

-Riley