Remembering Vanamee
"A house is not a home without a pet" - Anonymous It was my mom's idea to get a pet. I was living in a dark, dank apartment. I spent most of my days at work or at school, and most of my nights drinking vodka and trying desperately to sleep without nightmares. I was like a threadbare sweater--not so much unravelling as coming apart in huge, gaping holes. What you need, Mama said, is something to come home to. Something that needs you and loves you. Leaving a living thing in my care might be an act of criminal negligence, I replied. Or something to that effect. I couldn't even be counted on to brush my teeth. I once fell asleep on a chair in my kitchen trying to put together a manifesto out of magnetic poetry. I read morse code in streetlight blinkings and was convinced my reflection was trying to kill me. But, Mama is not a woman to be deterred. We drove to Brooksville and I spent the afternoon in the sun playing with kittens. I wanted a pretty fema