Birthday biography
Today is Cherubino’s tenth birthday. The most extraordinary cat I’ve ever known has put in a decade of faithful, loving service and I wish to take a break from extolling my daughter to write a hagiography for this fabulous feline.
Cherubino’s mother, Vaska, was an elegant seal point Siamese owned by a PhD student in the Slavic languages department. His father was a blue point Himalayan studded out to father the litter of three kittens that produced Cherubino; a sister, also with a pointier Siamese face; and a brother, who got the shmooshed-in face. My friend Laura had mentioned to Vaska’s human mother that her friends Mila and Ben wanted a cat, preferably a girl, so when a guy named Ben responded to a poster on campus advertising the cats, the girl cat and the last cat in the litter was promised away. I called for a cat, only to find out they were all betrothed to other humans. A few hours later I got a call saying that the person who was going to pick up one of the boy cats didn’t show so, if I got down to Hyde Park soon, I could take him. I called Tony, the designated shlepper back in the days when he was just about the only person we knew with a car, to head to the old ‘hood while my boyfriend (now ex-), with whom I lived at the time, went to go buy a litter box and cat food.
It was love at first sight when I met this blue eyed boy, just shy of two pounds, with big paws, all creamy fuzz with lilac points, love that has grown proportionately as he closes in on twenty pounds, colored Russian blue except for his chest, still a snowy white ruff. I didn’t own a cat carrier yet, so I put this kitten that fit in my hand in a cardboard box. As Tony and I drove north on Lake Shore Drive the kitten mewed pathetically until I let him out of the box. Trembling, he craned his little neck to see out the window, curious and brave despite his fear at being in a new environment for the first time.
When we got him to LaSalle I made him a little snuggly bed and put in a ticking clock, like the books suggest. Of course, when we went to bed he had none of that, crying at the bedroom door until he was let in. At the time, we slept in a futon placed directly on the floor, so the kitty jumped in bed along side me – where he has spent his nights for the past decade, except for the first three months after Yelena was born.
My boyfriend and I took a few days naming him. I wanted to name him Yuri, to go with his mother’s Slavic name and it seemed to suit him, but Ben would have nothing of it. The kitty was very fond of women and loved crawling under skirts, so we came across the name Cherubino, after the character from La Nozze de Figaro, a young man enamored with women who, at one point in the opera, hides under Susannah’s dress. Castration was also in the cat’s destiny and Cherubino is a pants role (a male character sung by a mezzo-soprano for you non-opera fans), so it was rather funny. [As an aside, I have rarely met a person who got the joke right off. One of the only people who ever did was a lovely actor I knew, Nathan, who sadly succumbed to AIDS in 1999. Whenever I think of the irony behind Cheru’s name, I remember Nathan fondly.] We agreed to call him Bino for short, although at some point soon after I started referring to him as Cheru and that is the name to which he primarily responds.
He was a feisty little guy. When he was a kitten we had to take turns staying up with him at night since he was too excited to sleep– great experience for the first few months with Yelena. He loved to chase balls and do flips mid-air, escape into the hall of the apartment building an play keep away, only to flop at your feet for a belly rub when caught. (He still does that, just a lot more sluggishly.) At first he was afraid of so many things; he'd run out of the bathroom when the toilet was flushed, each time covering less distance until he overcame his fear and became the loo paper troll, batting at hands that dared reach for the toilet tissue. At the Beatles' Blackbird he frantically looked around for the chirping birds and, upon listening to a Busta Rhymes CD for the first time, dove under all the furniture seeking cover. (Now, nothing fazes him.) He was super snuggly and loved to sit on my chest between my face and my book when I was reading.
He was always very amorous with me, very flirtatious with women and very fond of my friend Sharmila, but he had difficulties with men. He used to nip at my ex-boyfriend’s ankles whenever they weren’t covered by socks. He would climb up men’s jeans and would attack the mouse tattoo Eric has on his calf. After cat sitting him a few times while I was away, Cheru finally got around to trusting and loving Tony and Eric, but he still had general issues with men until Eli and I got serious. (Kenny being the other exception. He would just go over to Cheru, pick him up and show no fear.) I have seen that pussy cat emasculate at least a dozen men over the years.
Eli was the father figure he needed, and they have grown to love each other very much. When we first started dating and were in bed together, though, Cheru asserted his authority by jumping from the computer monitor to the top of the door, nine feet off the ground, where he hunkered down at the edge, balancing his enormous body on a two inch beam, starring down Eli. Eli wasn’t frightened off, like so many before, was ultimately deemed worthy and accepted into the pack. Now when Eli wakes up Cheru joins his Daddy for his morning ablutions, sitting patiently on the toilet until it's time for the dental floss game.
Cherubino has mellowed out tremendously over the years, the Bordeaux of felines. He has been loyal and loving during ups and downs, through break-ups and sickness, always affectionate, always talkative. Anyone who makes generalizations about cats’ aloofness or lack of compassion has either never had a cat, had a bad cat, or didn’t know what to do with them. Whenever I am crying or sick, he’s there within a minute, purring and nuzzling – although, let me tell you, food poisoning and cat breath are not a happy duo. He paws at me and licks my nose and eats my hair (the latter of which is annoying, yet oddly endearing) every night and morning, keeps my feet warm and lets me wrap my arms around him. He stands guard, erect like a sentinel, and is very protective. He comes to the door to greet whomever enters, meowing his hellos. He demands his due but earns every bit of it.
Cherubino has been a great buddy cat to Despina and Theolonious, although sometimes he is a big bully, stealing their warm spots or butting in when they are getting pet. When I inherited Spi she didn’t really know how to groom herself; he would repeatedly lick her until she finally learned, and he still cleans out her ears. The two are truly bonded and curl up together every day. Theo was even more of a spaz before he and Eli joined us and Cheru really mellowed out the orange monster, giving him an outlet for all his hyper energy. Every night Theo challenges Cheru’s alpha status, only to be thwarted by the kung fu master, Jabba the Buddha. Cheru even lets Theo mount him, unfazed by the anatomical improbability of it all, moaning Theo only reaching the middle of his back.
Cheru has also served as a muse over the years. His beautiful eye color has even given name to a color: Chru Blue. He is the subject of many songs. My favorite, which goes to a modified Tenor Madness, as well as a Carlebach tune, and many others besides: My Cherubino/drinks cappuccino/he likes ‘em foamy/with some spumoni. Another, accompanied by Eli’s country style guitar pickings: His eyes were blue and his nose heart shaped/when he shook his butt the whole earth quaked.
Cherubino Bambino, Cheru, Rubi, Rubi Ru, the Ru, Ru-ster, Bibi, Bino, Big Blue Ru, Big Blue Babalu, Buddha, Bubu, Jabba the Buddha, Fatty Boombalatty, Boomby, Pussy Willow, Cherushetchka, Cherushka, Ketzelah, Cherubador from the Clan McCherubador, Fangs, Himalese, Simalayan, Big Guy, I am a better and richer person for having shared these past ten years with you. I have no illusions as to your extremely limited ability to understand human language, but this homage doesn't even begin to touch on your magnificence. You have taught me so many lessons about nurturing and companionship. Your animal nature, your superb catness, has made me infinitely more human and humane. I love you and I look forward to what I hope is another ten years of snuggles and laughs.
Cherubino’s mother, Vaska, was an elegant seal point Siamese owned by a PhD student in the Slavic languages department. His father was a blue point Himalayan studded out to father the litter of three kittens that produced Cherubino; a sister, also with a pointier Siamese face; and a brother, who got the shmooshed-in face. My friend Laura had mentioned to Vaska’s human mother that her friends Mila and Ben wanted a cat, preferably a girl, so when a guy named Ben responded to a poster on campus advertising the cats, the girl cat and the last cat in the litter was promised away. I called for a cat, only to find out they were all betrothed to other humans. A few hours later I got a call saying that the person who was going to pick up one of the boy cats didn’t show so, if I got down to Hyde Park soon, I could take him. I called Tony, the designated shlepper back in the days when he was just about the only person we knew with a car, to head to the old ‘hood while my boyfriend (now ex-), with whom I lived at the time, went to go buy a litter box and cat food.
It was love at first sight when I met this blue eyed boy, just shy of two pounds, with big paws, all creamy fuzz with lilac points, love that has grown proportionately as he closes in on twenty pounds, colored Russian blue except for his chest, still a snowy white ruff. I didn’t own a cat carrier yet, so I put this kitten that fit in my hand in a cardboard box. As Tony and I drove north on Lake Shore Drive the kitten mewed pathetically until I let him out of the box. Trembling, he craned his little neck to see out the window, curious and brave despite his fear at being in a new environment for the first time.
When we got him to LaSalle I made him a little snuggly bed and put in a ticking clock, like the books suggest. Of course, when we went to bed he had none of that, crying at the bedroom door until he was let in. At the time, we slept in a futon placed directly on the floor, so the kitty jumped in bed along side me – where he has spent his nights for the past decade, except for the first three months after Yelena was born.
My boyfriend and I took a few days naming him. I wanted to name him Yuri, to go with his mother’s Slavic name and it seemed to suit him, but Ben would have nothing of it. The kitty was very fond of women and loved crawling under skirts, so we came across the name Cherubino, after the character from La Nozze de Figaro, a young man enamored with women who, at one point in the opera, hides under Susannah’s dress. Castration was also in the cat’s destiny and Cherubino is a pants role (a male character sung by a mezzo-soprano for you non-opera fans), so it was rather funny. [As an aside, I have rarely met a person who got the joke right off. One of the only people who ever did was a lovely actor I knew, Nathan, who sadly succumbed to AIDS in 1999. Whenever I think of the irony behind Cheru’s name, I remember Nathan fondly.] We agreed to call him Bino for short, although at some point soon after I started referring to him as Cheru and that is the name to which he primarily responds.
He was a feisty little guy. When he was a kitten we had to take turns staying up with him at night since he was too excited to sleep– great experience for the first few months with Yelena. He loved to chase balls and do flips mid-air, escape into the hall of the apartment building an play keep away, only to flop at your feet for a belly rub when caught. (He still does that, just a lot more sluggishly.) At first he was afraid of so many things; he'd run out of the bathroom when the toilet was flushed, each time covering less distance until he overcame his fear and became the loo paper troll, batting at hands that dared reach for the toilet tissue. At the Beatles' Blackbird he frantically looked around for the chirping birds and, upon listening to a Busta Rhymes CD for the first time, dove under all the furniture seeking cover. (Now, nothing fazes him.) He was super snuggly and loved to sit on my chest between my face and my book when I was reading.
He was always very amorous with me, very flirtatious with women and very fond of my friend Sharmila, but he had difficulties with men. He used to nip at my ex-boyfriend’s ankles whenever they weren’t covered by socks. He would climb up men’s jeans and would attack the mouse tattoo Eric has on his calf. After cat sitting him a few times while I was away, Cheru finally got around to trusting and loving Tony and Eric, but he still had general issues with men until Eli and I got serious. (Kenny being the other exception. He would just go over to Cheru, pick him up and show no fear.) I have seen that pussy cat emasculate at least a dozen men over the years.
Eli was the father figure he needed, and they have grown to love each other very much. When we first started dating and were in bed together, though, Cheru asserted his authority by jumping from the computer monitor to the top of the door, nine feet off the ground, where he hunkered down at the edge, balancing his enormous body on a two inch beam, starring down Eli. Eli wasn’t frightened off, like so many before, was ultimately deemed worthy and accepted into the pack. Now when Eli wakes up Cheru joins his Daddy for his morning ablutions, sitting patiently on the toilet until it's time for the dental floss game.
Cherubino has mellowed out tremendously over the years, the Bordeaux of felines. He has been loyal and loving during ups and downs, through break-ups and sickness, always affectionate, always talkative. Anyone who makes generalizations about cats’ aloofness or lack of compassion has either never had a cat, had a bad cat, or didn’t know what to do with them. Whenever I am crying or sick, he’s there within a minute, purring and nuzzling – although, let me tell you, food poisoning and cat breath are not a happy duo. He paws at me and licks my nose and eats my hair (the latter of which is annoying, yet oddly endearing) every night and morning, keeps my feet warm and lets me wrap my arms around him. He stands guard, erect like a sentinel, and is very protective. He comes to the door to greet whomever enters, meowing his hellos. He demands his due but earns every bit of it.
Cherubino has been a great buddy cat to Despina and Theolonious, although sometimes he is a big bully, stealing their warm spots or butting in when they are getting pet. When I inherited Spi she didn’t really know how to groom herself; he would repeatedly lick her until she finally learned, and he still cleans out her ears. The two are truly bonded and curl up together every day. Theo was even more of a spaz before he and Eli joined us and Cheru really mellowed out the orange monster, giving him an outlet for all his hyper energy. Every night Theo challenges Cheru’s alpha status, only to be thwarted by the kung fu master, Jabba the Buddha. Cheru even lets Theo mount him, unfazed by the anatomical improbability of it all, moaning Theo only reaching the middle of his back.
Cheru has also served as a muse over the years. His beautiful eye color has even given name to a color: Chru Blue. He is the subject of many songs. My favorite, which goes to a modified Tenor Madness, as well as a Carlebach tune, and many others besides: My Cherubino/drinks cappuccino/he likes ‘em foamy/with some spumoni. Another, accompanied by Eli’s country style guitar pickings: His eyes were blue and his nose heart shaped/when he shook his butt the whole earth quaked.
Cherubino Bambino, Cheru, Rubi, Rubi Ru, the Ru, Ru-ster, Bibi, Bino, Big Blue Ru, Big Blue Babalu, Buddha, Bubu, Jabba the Buddha, Fatty Boombalatty, Boomby, Pussy Willow, Cherushetchka, Cherushka, Ketzelah, Cherubador from the Clan McCherubador, Fangs, Himalese, Simalayan, Big Guy, I am a better and richer person for having shared these past ten years with you. I have no illusions as to your extremely limited ability to understand human language, but this homage doesn't even begin to touch on your magnificence. You have taught me so many lessons about nurturing and companionship. Your animal nature, your superb catness, has made me infinitely more human and humane. I love you and I look forward to what I hope is another ten years of snuggles and laughs.
posted by Mi at 10:13 PM
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