Twins
08.15.2015
My birthday gift from Richard this year was to be a cat. But on May 27 (in Gemini), no cat had appeared, despite our extensive search.
We didn’t know that the next day (May 28, still Gemini) two brothers were born in a family of five.
We didn't know how we would ever replace our affectionate, talkative Turkish Angora, Marley, who had moved with us to Paris.
We didn’t know that a Turkish Angoran mother was nursing five kittens as we searched.
We didn’t know that ten weeks later, we’d board a train to the town of Boissy-St-Léger, half an hour south of Paris.
We didn’t know that two of the five brothers were so bonded that we couldn’t adopt one without the other.
We didn’t know we’d board the train back to Paris with two kittens not yet named.
We didn’t know for a week what their names were.
We watched as they boxed and galloped around the kitchen and foyer, and thought of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, of Greek myth.
These twins, a tamer of horses and a boxer, were so close that they were later placed in the sky by Zeus as the constellation Gemini.
What else could we call them but Castor and Pollux?
Reader Comments (20)
OMG, they are PERFECT! Fate is so strange. You were MEANT to have the two boys. Wow. Amazing. My heart is zinging right now for you both. So much fun when they are young. And as they get older their personalities really start to emerge. Right now they are full of adrenalin and youth. Oh, congratulations! Love, Lisa :)
A rare combination: mythic and adorable at the same time!
Lisa, Thank you so much! Yes, that was our thought exactly. They were already waiting for us: fate. I wish you could have seen what I just saw in the kitchen. Richard standing at the kitchen sink, in his Levis and shirt. Pollux climbed up his leg as if he were a squirrel and Richard a tree--that fast. And he arrived on the kitchen counter, the first time either of them had done so. They are little whirlwinds. Already we see a difference in personality, and that is how we arrived at which to name Pollux, which to name Castor.
Love to you and your kit cats,
Kaaren and Richard
Dear Susan,
It's true! It is an unusual combination. I guess it's what happens when you combine felines with myth. They are very funny. They keep us laughing with their antics.
Love,
Kaaren & Richard
This is my favorite post that you've ever done, and you've done some great ones. The inseparable little brothers in the photos are beyond cute. Ah, the joys of being young, and the pleasure that comes from bringing the young, and furry, into your lives. Please give us occasional updates on the progress of these two kitty gods. Thanks!
Maybe because it's brief? Wow, John, that's encouraging--no post has ever taken so little time. So from now on we'll try to be brief.
Thank you so much for this comment. One of the things we share with you is a passion for myth.
These little gods are going to have their lives well documented by our in-house photographer.
Love to you,
Kaaren & Richard
Oh, they are so adorable! And this piece about how they came to you is magical. They sound delightful and may they bring you both much delight for years to come!
My dears, I actually felt tears of happiness for your blessed news. You and Richard, living as you do in this world and the mythic, imbue great emotion into what for others would be an ordinary event, the acquisition of two adorable fur balls. I know through your writing the twins will become a part of my life, too, and I'm grateful.
So adorable!! Here's to many years of joyfulness with them!! What a wonderful story of your finding them and making them your own.
2 kittens to watch that love to play with one another -- I can't think of more fun. Congratulations!!
Carole,
Thank you for commenting! They are already giving us delight. When I emerged from the bedroom this morning, they were sitting like little sphinxes facing me, waiting to play.
Love,
Kaaren (& Richard)
Dear Tristine,
What a dear message. Thank you! They are little clowns, so funny they make us laugh all day. They tear around the living room, peep, and box, and play. And they really are as close as those two Dioscuri.
Much love,
Kaaren (& Richard)
Hi Carol,
Thank you! They are so close they sometimes curl up into an ouroboros together. Very sweet, these two.
Much love,
Kaaren (& Richard)
My mind convoluted the first sentence to "My birthday gift to Richard this year was to be a cat." As in, you were going to be a cat. It took me three reads to finally get it right. By then, the damage was done. Meow.
Hi Stuart,
That is because you know me. I am a cat. Or else a bird. A water bird. Purrrrr.
XO,
Kaaren (and Richard)
I cannot believe how cute these two are, and how magically you found each other. Absolutely freaking amazing. It was worth the wait, yes? I am so happy for you. What a lovely home the four of you will make! They are so creamy and delicious! Much love,
It is only apropos that it would take two to replace the one irreplaceable Marley. So glad that Castor and Pollux have arrived into your lives!
Cassandra,
Yes, it was worth the wait! But it was odd, after our experiences separately and together in the U.S.: we have both always had cats adopt us. Here in Paris, we had to search for four months. Now they seem so much a part of our family, we can't remember what it was like without them. Thanks for commenting!
Much love,
Kaaren (& Richard)
Anna,
Oh, you do know how hard Marley was to replace. Castor seems wilder than Marley; Pollux seems more laid-back than Marley was. So yes, if you put them together, they'd be a cat like him. But they are also each unlike any cat we've known.
Thank you!
Hugs,
Kaaren (& Richard)
so happy for castor and pollux and kaaren and richard!
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Thank you so much, Lisa! We passed your message on to the twins.
Love,
Kaaren & Richard