By Jove It’s My Birthday–Beth Trissel

And I love a good quote, so here are a few suitable selections for my special day. Feel free to add some I may have missed.

“When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it happened or not.” – Mark Twain

“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.” – Emily Dickinson

We are always the same age inside.
– Gertrude Stein

It takes a long time to become young.
– Pablo Picasso

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made.
– Robert Browning

“Inside every older person is a younger person – wondering what the hell happened.” – Cora Harvey Armstrong

The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.
– T.S. Eliot

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”
~ Oprah Winfrey

“A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.” ~Robert Frost

“To me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I eye’d,
Such seems your beauty still.”
~ William Shakespeare

“Just when you think no one has taken any notice of your birthday, here come two friends with an empty honey pot and a broken balloon.”~Eeyore’s Gloomy Little Instruction Book

“After all, what are birthdays? Here today and gone tomorrow.”

Eeyore from “The House at Pooh Corner“ by A. A. Milne

“Eeyore,” said Owl, “Christopher Robin is giving a party.””Very interesting,” said Eeyore. “I suppose they will be sending me down the odd bits which got trodden on. Kind and Thoughtful. Not at all, don’t mention it.”

Lincoln was the first President to have ‘this’ in the White House

A Cat.  Which gets back to my ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get kittens’ adage.  The going was definitely tough for Lincoln.  And for General Robert E. Lee, who, interestingly enough, also loved cats.   If only love of cats could have united these two great leaders.

*Image of much-loved cats.  The two oriental short hair kitties, Gabby and Pookah, are no longer with us, but our rescue kitty, Minnie Mae, still is.

There are many notable cat lovers in history.  To name a few:  The Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Ann.  I expect many writers names to pop up on this list.  Here’s another Charles Dickens.  Perhaps the best known author/cat lover is Mark Twain.   It might save time to note those writers who didn’t or don’t favor cats.  Let me know if you think of any.  No one comes to mind.

An interesting article, A Few Famous Cat Lovers, gives a more complete list.

“No matter how much cats fight, there always seems to be plenty of kittens.” – Abraham Lincoln

“The naming of cats is a difficult matter. It isn’t just one of your holiday games. You may think at first I’m mad as a hatter. When I tell you a cat must have three different names…” – T.S. Eliot

And most of ours do–P. Cuthbert Wiggins, for one.  The P. stands for Percival and so we call him Percy, a dignified and highly affectionate Tabby.  Also the first name of the Scarlet Pimpernel, I might add.

“When I play with my cat, how do I know that she is not passing time with me rather than I with her?” – Montaigne

*Image of Percy and our funny SPCA rescue mix, Mia, in their younger days, taken by my mom, Pat Churchman. Percy is also a rescue kitty.

“After scolding one’s cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference.”- Charlotte Gray

“You can keep a dog; but it is the cat who keeps people, because cats find humans useful domestic animals.”- George Mikes

“Cats are kindly masters, just so long as you remember your place.”- Paul Gray

“One must love a cat on its own terms.”- Paul Gray

“Prowling his own quiet backyard or asleep by the fire, he is still only a whisker away from the wilds.” – Jean Burden

“Cats do not have to be shown how to have a good time, for they are unfailing ingenious in that respect.” – James Mason

Our Siamese tabby mix, Pavel, is a kitten/cat now, small for his age, insatiably curious, and ever on the prowl for playthings.  A gentle paw tags me for a round of ‘get the kitten’ which involves chasing him through the house.   In his blue eyes I see intelligence and affection, but given on his terms.  He’s quite busy, you see.  Apart from naps.

*Image of Pave, our latest rescue kitty, taken by daughter Elise.

“As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind.” – Cleveland Amory