Hi Guys!
It’s me, Alfred! KING Alfred that is.
If you’re a Southerner, you’ll recognize the fields of cotton growing and the big magnolia trees shading our Homestead in the picture. You would also be familiar with our ways down here.
For those of you new to the South, like me, let me share a few of my cat thoughts with you.
First, you guys know that I’m originally from Rwanda and grew up with my Moms and my Aunties. So, because of this, I have a real American “urban” feel to my language. Then I went to Equatorial Guinea and learned Spanish and had a bit of an accent when I got to the States. Well, now that I’m down South I’ve learned to speak and behave like a rural Southerner.
The first change I noticed was how I answered my Moms. Back in Rwanda when my Moms called me I answered “what” or “yes.” But, here in the South I have to be more polite and answer “Ma’am!” real alert and respectful like. In cat speak this translates from a short quick “Meow!” when my Moms calls me to a long, drawn out “Mr-r-e-ow…!”
The second big change I had to do was learn the family tree recognizing and respecting all my family members, especially elders. Moms and I have family all up and down the highway who have been here since probably the early 1800’s or even 1700’s since our town was founded in 1700. Our family were slaves who worked on the local plantation here and who today carry the last names of some of the owners. Some were able to purchase property which has been handed down over the generations. Now when you drive through the area you see small, neat farm and country houses dotting the countryside inhabited by the Etheridges, Boddies and Whitakers. You even see large, modern homes built by family who went up North to work and came back wealthier.
Knowing I can go almost anywhere and know “kin” is both refreshing and daunting. Contractors and repairmen of all races who come to the Home House to help Moms rehab tell my Moms that she is probably “kin” to them.” Imagine routinely meeting people who know more about your family history than you do. Many people in the older generation say my Moms “favors” all sorts of cousins some of whom she knows and others whom she doesn’t know.
I’m a little sensitive about this “kin” and “favoring” thing. I mean I’m Moms’ cat. Where does that put me? Do I “favor” my Moms? I mean we do both like fried chicken and we have the same bedtime.Cousin Lee told me I had to “do better” in my Southern behavior. So, the other day for the first time I greeted him when he came to visit us. (You may remember that I do not like men and am deathly afraid of them. I hide in the pantry shaking and my heart beats really fast.)
Well. If I’m going to be a Southerner, I really want to do things right and make my Moms proud.
Fondly yours,
The KING (y’all come back and see us now!)
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