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My best friend growing up, Ben, had cats. I had a rough time at home so I spent a lot of time at his house. I tried to stay away from his cats but they were all over me. I would just sneeze my brains out. My eyes were super red. His mom thought I was high. 1/
When I got together with Lindsay, she had a cat named Gus. I liked Gus because I liked Lindsay. He liked me too. He was a big lout and we would kind of roughhouse. He was a long, big boned, gray striped tabby .2/
The first time I went to the vet with him he didn’t like it at all. At one point she lost hold of him and he kind of turn into a scribble of violence for a second and when she got hold of him again he had scratched her from collarbone to collarbone. 3/
We were horrified.
I’ll never forget what she said.
“It’s OK. He’s just a scared little guy”
First of all. Gus was really big. He could easily put his front paws up on the kitchen counter. And he was aggressive. He’d been a New York City street cat. 4/
I’ll never forget what she said.
“It’s OK. He’s just a scared little guy”
First of all. Gus was really big. He could easily put his front paws up on the kitchen counter. And he was aggressive. He’d been a New York City street cat. 4/
In that moment my heart went out to him. He wasn’t this big tough apex predator. He was a frightened little boy like I’d been. I started being really gentle with him and talking to him real sweet. He started to curl up in my armpit when I took a nap. 5/
Around this time, I started on Twitter. I also started photographing Gus a lot. I was telling somebody how stupid I thought it was that I was posting all these pictures of my cat.
“Cats are the most popular thing on the Internet,” they told me.
Uh, oh.
6/
“Cats are the most popular thing on the Internet,” they told me.
Uh, oh.
6/
On a train up to New London for a Spin Doctors show, I was posting a picture of Gus and I wanted to hashtag it. I typed in #Cat and then went through every letter seeing what came up. I finally got to “U” and #Caturday came up. It happened to be Saturday. 7/
At least a hundred people replied with pictures of their cats which I retweeted and I’ve done it every Saturday since.
I love it.
Gus died one September evening in 2018 and I walked up 9th Ave. crying like a child. He was a good friend. I still get choked up. 8/
I love it.
Gus died one September evening in 2018 and I walked up 9th Ave. crying like a child. He was a good friend. I still get choked up. 8/
He showed me something about love and gentility that goes beyond words.
People talk a lot of shit about love.
Cats can’t.
They just show you.
And that’s the story of #Caturday. 9/9
People talk a lot of shit about love.
Cats can’t.
They just show you.
And that’s the story of #Caturday. 9/9
