1.  We all make mistakes, but what was the worst one you ever made?

There are two, but one of them is my first marriage, which others have also written about. Therefore, I choose the other one: declawing one of my former pet cats. I cannot think about her or see her picture without thinking about it. She was such a sweetheart, but I didn’t know at the time the torture and trauma that declawing is for a cat. This was back in 1992, when such knowledge wasn’t generally discussed with cat owners by vets and when vets agreed to do this procedure. Nowadays, many vets won’t do it. I feel guilty to this day for doing that to her. Afterward, I used shredded newspaper in her litterbox, as instructed, for the amount of time I was told to. When I started using regular litter again, she apparently wasn’t totally healed, because she bled a lot! I was shocked even at the time, not knowing that declawing was basically cutting the ends of her toes off! And all because I had bought new furniture for my townhouse! I had not done research on alternatives to declawing.

As it happened, I did not have this precious girl for long – I soon found out my 7-year-old son was allergic to cats and we had to give her away. I gave her to a “friend” who kept her for awhile, then gave her away to a woman who had a farm full of cats. I don’t know what happened to her after that.

Here is a photo of that sweet-tempered tabby:

2.  Do you enjoy walking in the rain?

It depends on how hard it’s raining!

3.  Have you ever been to a Fancy Dress Party? What did you go as?

I’m not sure what you mean by a “fancy dress party” – a costume (Halloween) party? The only time I went to a Halloween party was at my oldest sister’s; I went as a witch, the only costume I had. I also went to a wedding where we were told to dress in costumes. I wore a fancy folk dress that I bought in Oaxaca, Mexico. It was very beautiful, but no one else wore anything like it – everyone else just wore formal wedding clothes and a few had Mardi Gras eye masks, so I was embarrassed because I looked so different.

4.  What was the first thing you saw when you woke up this morning?

The window, with pale light shining in – I knew then that it was early morning, about 6 a.m. I went to the bathroom, then went back to bed wearing an eye mask so the light wouldn’t keep me awake and slept another two hours.