The Meeting

or, How Barney found me and probably saved my life

Barney found me in the early summer of 1990, a few months after my mom passed away. I always kind of thought she sent him to me.

I was on my way home from Mike and Jill’s house out in Willis. I had just brought them a kitten/cat, I think from my sister. They already had a dog named Wilma, and named the cat Pebbles. So that’s how Barney got his name, not after the purple dinosaur, thankyouverymuch. Maybe kinda after the pool hall of the same name here in the Houston area.

Anyway, I was driving the back roads coming home, FM249 to Tomball, west on 2920, then south on Telge Road. Telge Road has a couple of medium sharp turns, one to the left and one to the right. On that second turn I happened to notice a spot of black on the double yellow line in the center of the road. I quickly pulled over, and calling “here, boy” this little bundle of fur came running straight towards me. And that’s how we met. If I hadn’t been paying attention, I could have just as easily ran over him. I think of that often.

Barney quickly became a very important part of my life. Me, who has always been a cat person, had a dog. I was living by myself at the time just on the wrong side of Bellaire and West University. I was renting a great 40's craftsman style house, lots of windows that would catch the breeze, a little one car garage, huge kitchen with an O’Keefe and Merritt stove with a griddle in the middle, and a decent sized backyard with chain link fence. And a screened in patio. And a cat. I think it was Spencer.

I quickly found out how intelligent Barney was. I’d feed him outside on the porch, and during the day while I was working he would take his food dish out in the yard to chew on it. So every morning I’d have to go get it. That got old, especially when it was raining. So I taught Barney to go get his dish. This worked so well that when he was hungry, he would bring me his dish. Also, when he was very young, he only had 3 “accidents” that I know of. One was in the truck that first night that I was bringing him home, but that was a pretty long drive so he was forgiven. Then he had two in the house. I guess I made my point about going outside, because those are the only two times I remember him pissin in the house. I was extremely fortunate!