Mrs. Katz and Tush

Larnel didn’t know Mrs. Katz very well, but almost every other day his mother stopped in to see her after work.
“Since her husband died, she’s so alone,” his mother had told him.
Mrs. Katz held tight to his mother’s hand the day they looked at an old photo album. “That’s my husband, Myron,” said Mrs. Katz. “He came from Poland like me, a long time ago. We had such a life, such a life!” Then her voice broke.
“We had no children, and I’ll be all alone for Hanukkah and
Passover.”
Then she cried.
The next day Larnel stopped in to see her himself.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said. “A cat had some kittens in the basement of our building. We found someone to take them all except this one. She’s the runt. Nobody wants her because she is so ugly. She doesn’t even have a tail.”
“Ugly, you say,” Mrs. Katz said. “My Myron was ugly, too, when he was little, but he grew up to be such a person!” Mrs. Katz looked at the little kitten.
“Scrawny little bubeleh… so small… no tail,” she said as she examined the kitten closely.
“I don’t know,” she said doubtfully. Then she saw the look on Larnel’s face.
“Larnel, I’ll take her!” she announced. “But only if you’ll come and help me with her. I’ve never had a cat before.”
Larnel promised.
“A good Yiddish name I’ll give her,” said Mrs. Katz. “Let’s see, she has no tail-all you see is her tush. That’s it! We’ll call her Tush.”
Larnel promised.
“A good Yiddish name I’ll give her,” said Mrs. Katz. “Let’s see, she has no tail-all you see is her tush. That’s it! We’ll call her Tush.”