My name is Morris. I work and live at Country Ace Hardware in beautiful Granby, Colorado. Everyone is nice to me; I love children and grownups alike. I have a partner; her name is Sheba, and together we patrol our store. My Sheba is a little shy, but when she is beside me, she is brave
I love the sunshine and the outdoors, and I frequently go outside to patrol the parking lot, greet all of our neighbors, and of course, catch an occasional mouse (I think it’s a requirement of my employment). I also help with recycling on Saturdays!
Anyway, I am no good without my Sheba. In June of 2022, the weather got nice, and I was a bad boy.
I stayed outside at night, you know, doing my cat stuff.
As always, I was waiting at the employee door in the morning. But Sheba was getting mad at me because she does not like to sleep alone. So, on the fourth day of my staying out all night, she left to look for me. And I never saw her again. I was so sad. I meowed at anybody who would listen. “Have you seen my Sheba? Can you take me to her?”
Alas, not many humans speak cat. But I would not give up. I talked to every single neighbor, and I think I alarmed some of them, especially outside. I think some neighbors thought I was homeless. (Me? Homeless? Not a chance. I have the nicest place in the world) But although I kept asking, no one had answers. One day in August, I met some people in the parking lot, and I think they understood me. I meowed a lot, asking for my Sheba, and I swear they said they could find her for me. So I got into their vehicle, and we drove away. (I cannot fill you in all the details because I signed a nondisclosure agreement….)
Yup. Right paw. Cleaned the ink off of it.
I didn’t know there was a big brouhaha going on at Country Ace Hardware and Paint, looking for me. Apparently, I am much loved. But I digress. I was rescued by the Granby Police Department (Thank You) and brought back home. It was so nice to get back to my family. I was pretty famous by then, and many neighbors came to see me. I was happy, but alas, no Sheba. When you have a Sheba, and then you don’t have a Sheba, well, it’s sad. But I did my job. And when I say my job, well, I won’t make keys, but I will lay on the key machine. I am not a cashier, but I will be right there. On the counter. I won’t push out snowblowers or lawnmowers, but hey, I’ll watch you do it. I will sit at the front door and greet everyone. Yup, that’s my job. I am good at it!
So, summer becomes fall, and then it is winter. No Sheba.
I am devastated. Will I ever see my sweet Sheba again? I will faithfully soldier on. But still, I do meow at anyone who will listen, hoping that I find someone who really speaks my language.
We had a party at the store before Christmas. And SANTA was there. I got to sit on Santa’s lap. And I whispered to him, kind of shyly, I said “Santa, I was not a perfect boy this year. But I promise I will be better. Can you get my Sheba back? I miss her so much. I promise Santa. Just get her back.”
Well, Santa speaks cat. And so I knew what he was thinking. And it went like this “That’s a tall order, son. But I AM Santa. I will see what I can do.”
A couple of weeks later, a black cat showed up in the parking lot. An awesome neighbor took the cat to our animal shelter. Robyn (thank you, Robyn!) called our store owner (Amy Kaplanis) and said, “I think we have your cat!”
Amy went to see the cat, and it sure was Sheba. Oh my gosh, it’s my Sheba! I promise I will be by your side forever.
So now we are together again! She told me everything about her adventure. I wish I could say more. She has sworn me to secrecy, so I cannot say anything. She was cared for and loved, but she wanted to get back to Country Ace! She loves me, and I love her. We are together again. Life could not be more perfect. I am staying by her side, I will protect her with my life. And I have much support from my family at Country Ace Hardware and Paint.
I love you, Sheba, thanks for coming home.
MEOW!