What were my godparents thinking?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m warning you ahead of time that this post will probably be completely mundane, so no whining about how uninteresting my story is. :slight_smile:

The highlight of my day is always the moment right before I open my mailbox, when there’s the hope that I might have received a letter or two. Although there weren’t any letters today (just junk mail), there was a package from my godparents. Woohoo! I live for care packages, so you can imagine how thrilled I was. After I did my little dance of joy in the mailroom, I scurried back to my dorm to see what my doting godparents had sent.

I opened the package to find a card and a smallish lump wrapped in lavendar tissue paper. I figured that the tissue paper was hiding a bra or something that I had left at my godmama and godpapa’s house when I stayed with them for the weekend back in September. The card reads: I know how much you miss your cats at school so we are sending you this one. You won’t go bankrupt buying cat food and the best news of all – no litterbox. Hmm, this should be interesting. I’m expecting a Beanie Baby or something along those lines. I eagerly unroll the tissue paper…

OH MY GOD!

It’s not a Beanie Baby! It’s not even a cheap Beanie Baby knock-off! It’s one of those evil, freaky-ass cat figurines – you know, the kind that Stone Phillips and the gang over at Dateline did a couple dozen exposés on – the kind that are made in Asia from dead cat/dog fur. I think this particular cat is supposed to look like she’s sleeping, but she looks more like she’s been thrown to the side of the road after being hit by a car. It’s disturbing beyond belief.

So, the frightening cat has been stuffed back into the package she arrived in. I feel guilty throwing it out, but it creeps me out to no end keeping it here in the room… Anyone interested in giving her a home? Please? :slight_smile:

2

Ack! Those are so creepy. My step-grandmother sent me one. She couldn’t stop raving about how precious and sweet it looked. I didn’t agree. It is now stuffed behind a pile of clothes in the very back of my closet.

3

Kitty?

WAit…made from a real kitty?

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I think I’m going to cry.

I would be permanently traumatized.

I’m serious.

I miss my cats too. I make up for it by sleeping with the best Ty makes. (Not the beanie baby, the actual cat stuffed animal… does a decent approximation of a melted sleeping cat. Its too light, but it has the right texture)

I don’t know what I would do with it. After shuddering in a corner for about two hours. I wouldn’t keep it in my room. But how could you just throw it away?

I’d probably end up burying it. I’m serious, but I’m also just that odd. Poor kitty.

5

I believe so. It sure as heck feels like a real kitty. :frowning:

6

Ooh, two posts in a row. I hate that…

Anyway, Medea, I use Ty’s medium sized toy lab to keep me company at night. It looks just like my puppy and came with the name of my first dog – it works well, especially since it doesn’t hog the entire bed like my real dog does.

I’m also a little traumatized… and wondering if I should tell my godmom about it. If she knew my suspicions about the kitty’s origins, she’d probably call up the store she bought it from and give the manager a verbal lashing for selling such things. But, you know, I don’t want to be ungrateful – as a RASK, it absolutely made my day… you know, except for the whole dead animal part.

7

I’d return it. I couldn’t handle something like that.

8

Bury it under a tree somewhere. That’s what should have been done with it in the first place.

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And that’s why we all love you:)

I personally don’t like cats. I just . . . don’t like 'em. I love dogs.

10

Medea-tell ya what: we’ll get my father to give us a burial place, and you and I will have a little service.

I would tell your relatives what it is. That’s seriously messed up. I just lost my beloved cat of 16 years in August. I’m STILL not over it. I miss her so much it hurts.

11

Oh but sweetie,

(You wanted me for a friend, so now you have to put up with me)

Just think about how much they were thinking of you, and loving you, when they sent it. Look at the thing and imbue it with all of that love and caring and stuff, and then put it under the bed or something, and every once in a while when you are feeling blue, you can drag it out and just remember the love that sent it.

I know, I am a sappy, soppy lady. But I still think I have a good point?

Scotti

12

Yes, Scotti, you do make a good point. I means so much to me that they were thinking about me and love me enough to send little presents when I’m blue. So, rather than burying it (which I was tempted to do, especially since Medea’s Child admitted she’d be holding a funeral for it), I’ll be keeping the kitty somewhere out of sight in my dorm room. Maybe it’ll attract the spirit of the cat who gave up its life and fur for the figurine, and then I’ll have a little ghost-kitty running around. :wink: Still, if I need something to cuddle with, I think I’d rather pull out the Gund bear that my godparents sent last Christmas. :slight_smile:

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:slight_smile:

Serendipity, darling~

People love you the best way they know how. Sometimes the best way they know how is NOT the best way YOU know how. You just have to accept the love, and let go of the ick. Trust me, I am old and I have learned.

Plus, ghost kitties are great when you live in a dorm. You can’t have the real thing, right?

OTOH, gotta getta Gund~

Scotti

14

Geez, I’m gonna disagree with three of my favorite posters (two of whom are on my sig!), and for that matter, everyone else in this thread. :eek:

Serendipity,

I’d try to find someone who isn’t creeped out by the gift (if you can), and give it to him or her. I admit that I’d be weirded out by it, too, and probably wouldn’t take to it, but I really think the best thing you can do is try to give it to someone who doesn’t think it’s tacky and repulsive.

Seriously, there MUST be someone. Maybe a child who can’t have a pet, perhaps? Maybe someone who’s blissfully ignorant of the possible origins of this product?

I don’t know. But I would try. I don’t blame you for not liking it, particularly given your suspicions. But maybe, just maybe, someone else would.

Isn’t that really the best thing you can do? Maybe brighten someone else’s day with a gift that didn’t brighten yours.

And yes, I may be being hopelessly naive here.

As to your godmom, I am not sure whether or not I would tell her.

But as others have said, I’d try to accept the spirit in which the gift was offered. When you get to be as old and decrepit as me, the things your parents told you about gifts (“it’s really the thought that counts”), really do make a lot of sense. Good intentions count for a LOT in this world.

Oh, and Medea’s Child: You AREN’T odd, but you ARE WONDERFUL. I just want everyone on the SDMB to know how much I lo…adore you! :wink: