When I was in kindergarten or so, I found out that I was allergic to cats...I guess the way everyone does...you play with a cat, or a kitten in this instance actually, later rub your eyes and then all kinds of sneezing-running-nose-hell breaks loose. I was so confused! It was my friends' new kitten and I LOVED it!!!! I played with it and played with it, then rubbed my eyes and they burned like crazy!!! Then the rest started and there you go... So with that, for the most part, I learned to keep cats at a distance. Turns out though, I am also allergic to dogs, horses, dust, some grasses and plants, and probably the Loch Ness monster if we ever met and I rubbed it's ears! Fast-forward a bunch of years and I meet Andy who has three cats, Cosmo, Butters and Atticus. All three very different personalities and all lovers of Carol-the-allergic-one, although Butters keeps it quite cool, but who will take a good rub down when given. After we all got to know each other, it got to be that all three would come over to me to get their attention. Like I said, Butters has his own way. Atticus loves to drool on me while rubbing his face all over me. He also seems to like to play like a puppy so we get along well. Then there was Cosmo. Cosmo loved to sit on the back of the couch and rub his face in my hair...well, anybody's hair that sat on the couch. I loved and hated it as he would leave behind cat dander that would nail my allergies later if I didn't wash my hair that day or so... Cosmo would also meet me on the kitchen counter and just meow his head off until I gave him treats, much to Andy's dismay as I may have given them to him more than once a day... Cosmo LOVED acoustic guitar playing by his dad and I'm certain, my singing, and would often join us when we practiced, sometimes hanging out inside my guitar case. Last year when working on Eyes on the Prize I decided to include Cosmo in the album art, and so like our artist, Michael McCartney said, Cosmo will forever be immortalized there as Cosmo went on to Kitty Heaven this past week. We'll miss him for sure...
