Partnership Educators,
There was a fair-haired farm boy named Jim who had twenty-five cats. Most of them lived out in the barn and chased mice. A few were beloved house pets and all of them had names. Jim’s cats were more than farm animals to him, they were family. Each was distinctly recognizable not only by appearance but by personality. Each had its own habits and quirks with its own needs and sensitivities. Jim found something to love in every one of them. For sure each in their own way returned the affection towards Jim.
Since infancy, Jim was plagued with severe asthma. It almost killed him when he was nine. The chronic illness kept him in bed a lot. Jim’s frequent confinement never made him feel very lonely since he always had one cat nearby who seemed to understand him. These are the memories that Jim took with him from the family farm near Fairmount, Indiana into adulthood and his $ 1.60-an-hour agency job.
One day he fell in love. Her name was Carolyn. One evening he proposed and she accepted and so they were married. Then Jim learned something else about his new wife. The couple was visiting a friend's house for the first time when they were greeted at the door and five minutes later Carolyn’s eyes suddenly became teary and red. Jim was puzzled and concerned and asked what was wrong. By then his bride was scratching and sneezing and turned to their host and declared, “You have a cat.” The man insisted that he did not have any animals. She asked about any of the previous owners of the home. The man then remembered that the previous owner had several cats. Jim was astounded. He had never suspected his wife’s allergy much less the acuteness of it. Now, what was he to do? He had loved cats since childhood. He had hoped to have pet cats again someday. Now he couldn’t even go near a cat for fear of sending his dear Carolyn into a sneezing fit.
Over the years that followed, Jim tried his best to be considerate. If he visited cat owners and cuddled any of their pets he would return home and go straight to the laundry room and remove his clothing and immediately begin the washing machine and then take a shower to wash everything even his hair. All of this Jim did for the love of Carolyn. Yet he continued to seek a more satisfying solution to their dilemma.
Then, at last, Jim created for himself a paper pet. A cat made of paper and ink. His wife Carolyn wouldn’t be allergic to him. For Jim, the fair-haired Indiana farm boy who grew up loving cats by the dozens and whose wife's allergies assured him a catless home had partly solved his problem. Jim Davis had bestowed on the rest of us an unforgettable funny paper feline. You may have wondered how life began for a sarcastic, overstuffed, lazy, and lovable cat named Garfield.
For many of us, life will throw curves at us in the form of a disappointment for one reason or another. For Jim, it was the inability to have a cat of his own within his home. Finding solutions to those puzzling situations are the emulsions of life that mean the most to those around us. Thank you for always using your creativity and imagination to help find the “Garfields” for our students and families that help to remove the barriers to learning.
Enjoy the weekend and see you all next week.
Rob