HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2013-12-25, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, December 25, 2013
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How Mark and Gilbert spent Christmas
To say Mark was down on his luck was a
terrible understatement.
It was not a good year. He got laid off at the
plant, his car was barely hanging on to the
few bolts that remained and worse still, he
had just had the humiliation of going to the
bank only to find he was already withdrawn
past his limit.
As he walked home empty-handed and
heavy-hearted, he tried to think about some-
thing, anything that would buy him some
time and occupy his mind. Christmas was
coming, and he was completely unprepared
and completely broke.
Work was scarce in Mark's little town, and
what few jobs he could get were piecemeal,
nothing that lasted longer than a few days.
Hydro bills and rent ate up more than he
brought in. Most of his bills were dangerously
unpaid.
And of course, there was Gilbert.
Gilbert was Mark's pet cat. He found him
one year ago, when his car had spun out on a
lonely country road. The snow was falling
constantly, and Mark's car was buried deep
in the drifts. He was unable to open his door
because of the drift, so he opened his passen-
ger side window to see if he could make any-
thing out in the snow.
How a little kitten could find itself stranded
atop a snowdrift in the middle of a blizzard,
Mark never did find out. But, against all odds,
there was a fuzzy little kitty, meowing for
help. Mark didn't think twice. He pushed
himself out the window and gingerly scooped
it up, bundling it tight in his scarf before he
climbed back into the car. Once it stopped
shivering, the kitten looked up with the
greenest eyes Mark had ever seen, gave a
ferocious yawn and promptly feel asleep.
They managed to stay warm enough until
help arrived and have been together since.
But that was then and this was now.
Now, he was headed home with no money,
no cat food and very little in his cupboards
for himself.
Mark kept the lights off as he entered the
house, turned the lock, unplugged the phone
and flopped onto the couch. All he wanted to
do was sleep the rest of the day away.
Truth be told, Mark was depressed. Christ-
mas was always a tough time for him, with no
family and few friends to visit. This year
would be no different.
There, in the dark, reflecting on all the
Column
Gerard Creces
wrong things, Mark started to cry. He did so
silently, though his body shook. He felt less
than nothing.
Suddenly, there came a little tug on his
sleeve, and Mark looked down to see Gilbert,
nudging his hand with his black and pink
nose. He jumped up on the couch and snug-
gled in tight, brushing his little whiskers
against Mark's nose.
For all his sorrows, and all his troubles, and
all the weight of the world on his shoulders,
Mark smiled for the first time in a while.
"Thanks, Gilbert," he said. Gilbert just nuz-
zled in tighter.
The two fell asleep like that for some hours,
until Mark's rumbling belly wakened them
both. Mark had nothing in the fridge and only
a few odd cans on the shelf. He opened a can
of tuna, grabbed a fork, and headed back to
the couch.
Seeing Gilbert's empty dish, he called him
over. No sooner did the cat get in Mark's lap
than he began to lick at the tin.
As hungry as Mark was, he portioned out
some of the tuna into a bowl for himself and
watched Gilbert stick his head in the tin,
coming up with little bits of fish on his
whisker tips.
"At least we have this;" Mark said. "I prom-
ise I'll get you some real food when I can."
The smile faded from his face.
Suddenly, the room seemed darker, and
the reality of his situation struck him again.
He set down the can, curled up in a ball and
once more began to think terrible things. This
continued through the next day. Mark woke
up at noon to the cries of Gilbert, who was
hungry and cold. He had not turned the heat
on in a few weeks to save money.
"I'm hungry too, Gilbert," he said. "We just
have to wait a few hours "
The two slept the afternoon away warm
under the blankets. The rest of the apartment
was freezing.
Once again, Mark was rattled from his sleep
by an urgent meow.
"Okay, okay..." he said as Gilbert walked in
circles. "I guess we can eat now."
This time, Mark opened a can of beans for
himself, and a can of tuna for Gilbert. Because
he was desperately low on food, he gave the
cat a quarter can, putting the rest in the
fridge.
Gilbert ate contentedly for the first time in
24 hours.
Mark did the same.
As the late afternoon sun faded in his sec-
ond floor window, Mark turned on the lights,
looked around and turned them back off. He
sat in the dark for what seemed like hours
before Gilbert poked around again.
"I'm sorry, Gilbert, but you'll just have to
wait until tomorrow," Mark said. It wasn't an
easy thing to say. No matter how hard things
had been this past year, there was always a lit-
tle something left over to buy food for Gilbert.
This time, however, Mark could count his
remaining days on the pantry shelf.
'How do you explain that to someone who
can't speak?' Mark thought.
Almost as if he could read minds, Gilbert
climbed into Mark's lap and nuzzled his face,
licking the tip of his nose with a rough pink
tongue. Once again, things got a little bit
brighter in the world, as he scratched Gil-
bert's fuzzy little chin.
Mark took one of the laces out of his shoes
and he and Gilbert played contentedly until
the cat became disinterested. After the
moment's distraction was gone, Mark again
became cold and despondent, headed back
to bed and hoped that Christmas would pass
by.
There are many Marks in our community,
people who fall through the cracks of social
safety nets, people who don't have what they
need to get by in life. Mental health issues do
not miraculously cure themselves during the
holidays. It's a lonely time for many, and for
those with mental illnesses, even more so.
While Christmas is a good time to think about
those less fortunate, that consideration and
care should not end when the decorations
come down.
Take the opportunity to reach out to those
who are near and dear to you this Christmas,
and make sure the people you love know it.
... and remember to give the Gilberts in
your life an extra chin rub, too.
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