Ode to Sheena Princess Warrior
Sheena came from humble beginnings, a farm cat off a local Nebraska farm. We answered a newspaper ad giving away free kittens and home she came. Basswood Drive was and will continue to be her home. From an early age Sheena ruled the roost. Although she was small, her personality was fierce. She would never back down from a fight and though many “toms” tried to muscle their way into her territory, she let them all know just who the boss was! We incurred numerous trips to the vet to repair wounds.
Throughout the years Sheena had to share the garage with new comers. First there was Blackie, she arrived in the late winter and to all our surprise was expecting. So Blackie, Sheena and a litter of kittens all shared space for a while. The next intruder Sheena had to share her dominion with was Snowball. This dude was like a free spirited surfer dude whom Sheena walked all over. In her later years Larry built a perch for her to spend her days gazing out the window at birds during the long winter months.
During summers, Sheena was the resident watch the grass grow kind of cat. All the neighbors knew her and would comment how she would just lounge about on the front porch watching the comings and goings of the neighborhood. Sometimes she would venture across the street to watch Tim work on his cars or down the road to play with the neighbor kids but never would go too far from home.
Sheena grew up with our kids and was on to her next set of neighborhood kids who loved to stop by and talk to Sheena as she rolled about their feet. Sheena always had a fondness for men in addition to children. I was never her favorite but that was ok as we had a great understanding and commitment to each other in many ways. I was ok with her digging her claws into Larry’s stomach as she kneaded her happiness into him as I watched from the other patio chair. She loved spending time with us on the deck in summers. She would always take the best chair and frown upon us moving her. Whether it was sitting by the fire, having dinner, or sitting in front of the fan we were guaranteed a visit from our Sheena.
Sheena’s prey of choice was reptiles and amphibians (snakes and frogs). She was never one for “normal” cat prey. Larry and I were sitting on the front porch one evening commenting what a slacker Sheena was never catching any mice as she listened intently. Be damned but the next day she dropped a dead field mouse on the step as proof she could mouse but just chose not to. We watched what we said after this!
Oh how Sheena loved the garden. She knew the words “go to the garden?” and always followed us down to inspect our planting or weeding. She would do her part taking a big poop in the freshly tilled soil or smashing down weeds as she rolled her white fur in the dirt. A couple years ago during a garden escapade there was a baby bunny eating our plants. The bunny had gotten through the fence and couldn’t get out. Well we dropped Sheena in and she ran around the garden a few times chasing the bunny until she was just exhausted. She flopped over where she was and didn’t move until we carried her back to the front porch.
Sheena the Camper Kitty – after we purchased Big Blue, Sheena had to go inside and inspect. After that first time she claimed the camper as hers and learned that word too! Every time you’d say, do you want to go to the camper out she went to wait for us to open the door so she could climb inside and have some lounging time on the couch or in the front window. She would even ride around the neighborhood looking out as we drove around. She never did make it on a trip with us but would have done great!
Sheena, you brought us many great memories over the years. Your fierce independent attitude will be missed and standing in front of the cars preventing us from entering the garage is missed already. Love you tons girl.
