National Adult Literacy Database

February 15, 1999

Our story this week is a special event, because we are launching two learners' stories on the Internet, and you can read their stories as well as hear an audio version.

Louisa Raposo lives in Eastern Ontario and likes to read, walk her dog and travel. She enjoys her work at a clothing store.

Play an audio version of this story

Back at the Farm

by Luisa Raposo

It all happened back when Grampa was still alive. He lived in a small farm out west. Here he raised a few cows, pigs and chickens. He also had a vegetable garden, where he grew his favorite vegetables. When I was a kid I used to spend a lot of my summers with him. We used to get up early in the morning to go do all the chores like feed the animals and clean all their stalls.

After that we would cross to the neighbor's farm to go fishing. It was one of these times when I met the neighbor, Mr. Cats. He was an old man known mostly for his compassion for cats. This has led to the extreme number of cats that can be found at his house. Everybody knew that if you wanted a cat or needed a home for a cat, Mr. Cats was the man to see.

During one of my visits I became particularly fond of one of the cats, and Mr. Cats said that if I promised to take good care of her, I could take her home. My new summer friend. I named her Catfish. That same day when I took Catfish home Grampa asked "What is in your back-pack?" I said that since he was so nice about taking me in for the summer, I had a big surprise for him. I thought that after I left at the end of the summer he might be lonely, and Catfish would be a perfect companion for the winter.

Grampa took one look at Catfish and asked where I had found her. I could tell by his tone that he wasn't pleased. He was upset, he said we didn't need any more animals to feed or take care of, she could be a barn cat and keep the mice away, otherwise she was of no use. A barn cat wasn't what I had in mind. Picturing Catfish in a stall amongst the cows and pigs and chickens made me sad.

Against Grampa's will I took Catfish into the house where I could keep an eye on her. She quickly found her home in my room. She liked sleeping on my bed. But during the day she found her way to the kitchen for the meals. At night she would cuddle in my lap or run up against my legs. She also rubbed up against Grampa's legs until he got tired of it and pushed her away. But I think he is warming up to her. Just the other day when he didn't realize I was watching, I caught him picking Catfish up and rub her belly. He was talking to her in a voice I remember hearing him use when one of the animals was sick. From that day on I would see Grampa give Catfish a little bit of food, or bend over to pet her, and I knew that she had found her way into Grampa's heart. Now I could leave Grampa after the summer knowing that Catfish would be there to keep him company during the long winter months.

Sitting on the porch today, I saw a cat run by the barn, it reminded me of Catfish. It's nice to remember how in the beginning Grampa didn't want Catfish, and what good friends they were in the end.