DRAINO

We used Draino to clean clogged sink drains. We’d pour a cup of Draino into the plugged drain, and “poof” it would make the clog disappear. Down the drain. Great stuff!

We raised three of our grandchildren, Rachel, Angela and John. Rachel was a student at Southeastern University a few miles east of Baton Rouge. She loves pets and seemed to be a magnet for stray dogs and cats.

One rainy Sunday afternoon she pulled into her assigned parking lot at college. When she got out of her car she heard a kitten crying. At first she did not see the little kitten but following the cry, she found the kitten. Its back legs were caught in a sewer drain in the parking lot. Rachel feared someone would run over the tiny kitten so she carefully eased the kitten from the drain. The kitten was so small it fit in the palm of Rachel’s hand. The poor little thing was wet and cold and crying for its mother.

Pets are not allowed in the college dorm, but that didn’t bother Rachel. Into the dorm she went, kitten in hand. Rachel talked the dorm monitor into letting her keep the kitten - just overnight - until she could bring the little fur ball home. Rachel asked some of the nursing students what to feed the kitten. She then drove to Wal-Mart to get baby animal formula and a small, very small, feeding bottle.

Rachel called her grandmother (my wife Jean) and told her the story of the cold and wet baby kitten. After much begging and pleading Rachel convinced her grandmother she could bring the kitten home and we would keep her only until she was old enough to be weaned. Then Rachel was to find the kitten a good home.

I named the kitten Draino. That did not sit well with Rachel so she re-named her Princess. We took the kitten to the vet to be sure we were caring and feeding her properly. The vet said she weighed one-tenth of a pound and he thought she was about two weeks old. Princess was so tiny that she fit into an empty coffee cup. We have a picture to prove it. Jean, Rachel and Angela took turns feeding Princess every three hours around the clock. I slept well every night!

After Princess (Draino) had been here for about two months, Rachel asked if it was time to find her a good home. Jean said no. The kitty was so spoiled that no one else could take care of her. So Princess became another member of the household along with Pepper (Rachel’s other cat), Mittens (Angela’s dog) and Buttons (young John’s dog).

Now, years after that experience, Princess still lives with us. Rachel, Angela and John are on their own and left all their pets with grandma and papa to feed, care for and enjoy. Don’t all grandparents do that??!!

This blog was written by a person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He’ll be 90 in '09.