a cat’s journey home

a cat’s journey home by anna lam

reunions for animals of all kinds



i like getting ben to drive me around. kuro reminds me of mawmaw. reserved and loyal. untrusting ofstrangers. she’s still finding her dominance. soon, she’ll be able stand up to the neighbor cats. she’s almost a year old. i really miss mawmaw.

dad has always had fish. they’re supposed to bring luck. at one point, my contact photo for the home phone number was one of these babies. we’ve always had blood parrot cichlids. over the years, there have been countless of problems caring for these little guys - fin rot,hole-in-the-head, dropsy, maybe even fish tuberculosis. i did a lot of“google”ing. this one time, we had a pregnant blood parrot and it was very exciting. there were hundreds of little eggs spread out acrosssome rocks. the mom and dad protected the eggs fiercely until the eggsunfortunately developed a film of fungus - at which point the parents consumed the eggs (which is normal for fish). this new batch of blood parrots are very shy.

点心 (dim sum) from dad’s workplace

at least 90 degreesthis is at a costco gas station. now that i think about it, i remember how fun it was to go to costco. rolling around on the carts and food sampling. there’s too many things i forget and i really want to remember it all.



there’s something very special about no words.i used to cherish the act of existing in silence above all else.but i’ve recently learned to appreciate the importance of words.

there are certain things i cannot say with words.there are certain things i need to say with words.



it’s rare to have a dinner with just 妈咪 (ma mi).steamed black bean pork ribs, chinese spinach, leftovers, veggie soup. i really do love 妈咪 (ma mi). she’s almost the opposite of the scarystepmother figure. this one time, i wrote a letter to my parents, andi told ma mi that she was like a friend to me. it ended up hurting herfeelings, because she wanted to be like a mom, not like a friend. but i wasn’t sure what a mom was like, and i was sure that i loved my friends.

nowadays i think grandma was my mom, i just never realized it. or maybe i had a lot of mini moms! i’m a lucky girl.

dear dad:thank you for cooking even though you don’t particularly enjoy it.

scallops: cooked garlic, green onion, steam for 5 minutes. mussel: cooked garlic, green onion, dau si, steam for 5 minutes.shrimp: coat with 面粉 (meen fun), pan fry on each side until crispy. add green onion, chopped green chilli pepper, salt. stuffed jalapeno: fish meat with shrimp (squish with knife and cut with back knife), add some 面粉 (meen fun) and egg white/yolk. use within a couple days or freeze. pan-fry meat side down, stir fry stuffed jalapeno with hoisin sauce. maggi, and 面粉 (meen fun).

after a large dinner, we head to the airport again. he’s my LITTLE brother, even though he’s one month older, even though he says he’s older.no one understands all the ugly, tear-jerking, wall-punching feelings i have inside more than this guy does. PLUS, no one’s as afraid of me as he is. it’s great. i’d do anything for my brother.



my cave

“hi mama” hi babytubbs “socal was hot” it really was, babytubbs“i happy to be back. if i hot, i better be hot at coachella” that’s a really good point, babytubbs “mama, come on, follow me to the next page - ”



made it home.