The Teacher & the Student

Our dog Ellie lies on the throw rug in front of the door in October 2014

Taken two minutes apart on Halloween of 2014, Ellie teaches Boo how to wait by the door so they can greet me when I come home from work (he was always eager to take her spot after she got up). Our first cat Templeton used to wait by the door for me, then Scout learned it from him, and Sam and Emma from Scout. But after Ellie arrived the cats learned to hold back a bit as her feet started dancing but she was looking at me and not at cats who might have wandered underfoot. Sam and Boo sometimes greet me at the door now but not with the consistency of the old days.

Our cat Boo sits on the throw rug in front of the door in October 2014

Me & the Samwise

A black-and-white picture of our cat Sam snuggled in my lap with his head up and eyes wide open in April 2020

When I get home from work Sam starts giving me the business if I don’t settle down on the couch quickly enough for his liking, as he is waiting to jump into my lap and start purring to beat the band. There are lap cats, and there is Samwise.