Ani’s Advent 2020! Roberta Eaton ~ All I want for Christmas …

Posted bySue VincentPosted inDogs, photographyTags:, , ,

Dear Santa,

We may have a bt of a problem. It’s my two-legs… she is up and dpwn all night like a yo=to most of the time at the moment. And when she does manage to sleep,she is as likely to be on the sofa as in the bedroom. How are you going to sneak in?

I mean, our place is tiny anyway… not much of a place to hide a large man in red, not at the best of times…but with her awake and pottering, there will be nowhere for you to hide.

She says that you will manage, even if you have to twist your continuum, whatever that means… It sounds painful to me, and I’d rather you didn’t do yourself any injuries. Lots of people need you, especially this year.

I mean, I’d like the turkey and stuff, but my best present is still having her around to share it with… so don’t twist anything for me!

Much love,

Ani xxx

All I want for Christmas …

Roberta Eaton

My mother wanted a cat. When my sisters came to visit her, she talked about cats. They all had cats and were happy to engage in lengthily discussions about the delights of cats, and the therapeutic benefits of having a pet.

In February of that year, 2014, my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Who would have that the seemingly innocuous fine needle aspiration performed by a trusted doctor would have such a significant impact on our lives?

When the call came informing me that the lump was malignant, I’d been shocked. The doctor had said it wasn’t cancer. He’d assured us that he was merely being cautious and there was nothing to worry about. I am sure my shock was secondary to my mother’s, but it didn’t feel like that at the time. In retrospect, I would have preferred more honesty from the doctor. The diagnosis wouldn’t have been so unexpected and overwhelming if he’d said nothing.

My mother had gone through months of horrible treatment and now she wanted a cat.

The problem was my oldest son didn’t want a cat or any other creature. Animals flew in the face of his obsessive-compulsive disorder (“OCD”) which involved a fear of germs and contamination.

But my mother wanted a cat, and she’d been ill and needed uplifting. What to do about the cat?

Fate decided to intervene and on the morning of the 16th of December, my youngest sister arrived with a kitten. The poor little thing had been found living with its mother and siblings in a parking lot outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet.

What could I do? We couldn’t turn the kitten away and my mother took to her immediately. So, we hid the kitten in my parent’s cottage and left for a Christmas party, taking Gregory with us.

After lunch at the Christmas party, I thought I’d better let Greg know we were going home to a cat. It was a mistake to tell him at the party and ended up with us leaving early and taking an extremely upset child home.

Neither of my parents, nor the cat, made an appearance that evening and by the following morning, Greg had formulated his plan of defense and the negotiations about where the cat was allowed and what she could do began. She was only allowed in the cottage and not the house and wasn’t allowed to do anything that infringed on Greg’s lifestyle.

The following week, we took the kitten, by then named Push-Push, to the vet for her injections and a general health inspection. A few months later we took her to be spayed. Greg had become used to the cat by this point and there was grudging acceptance of her existence, although even to this day, he doesn’t have anything to do with her.

Around the time that Pushy was spayed, my sister arrived with another abandoned kitten. Smudge had been found in a run-down house occupied by drug addicts. The mother and her six kittens were struggling to survive on a diet of left-over pizza. Smudge is a short-legged cat and is also a tortoise shell. She was in a much greater state of neglect, strangely enough, than Pushy was although she was living in a house and Pushy was living in a car park.

Smudgey also had a trip to the vet. She had midges in her ears and had to have a treatment programme, but her hearing was not impacted, and she is fine now.

Pushy has ended up being a time share cat. I have her 50% of the time and my dad has her the rest of the time. Smudge is a one-man cat. She follows my dad around like a puppy and cries when he goes out and leaves her.

This is the story of our Christmas and Easter cats, both of whom have brought a lot of happiness into our lives.

My mother is now in officially in remission as her treatment ended in August 2015.

About the author

Robbie, short for Roberta, is an author with five published children’s picture books in the Sir Chocolate books series for children aged 2 to 9 years old (co-authored with her son, Michael Cheadle), one published middle grade book in the Silly Willy series and one published preteen/young adult fictionalised biography about her mother’s life as a young girl growing up in an English town in Suffolk during World War II called While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with her mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton).

All of Robbie’s children’s book are written under Robbie Cheadle and are published by TSL Publications. Robbie has recently branched into adult horror and supernatural writing and, in order to clearly differentiate her children’s books from her adult writing, these will be published under Roberta Eaton Cheadle. Robbie has two short stories in the horror/supernatural genre included in Dark Visions, a collection of 34 short stories by 27 different authors and edited by award winning author, Dan Alatorre. These short stories are published under Robbie Cheadle.

Find and follow Roberta Cheadle Eaton

Twitter    Facebook    Blog    Goodreads    Website

Purchase Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s Books from:

TSL Books    Lulu    Amazon.com     Amazon UK

While the Bombs Fell

TSL Publications     Lulu

What was it like for children growing up in rural Suffolk during World War 2?

Elsie and her family live in a small double-storey cottage in Bungay, Suffolk. Every night she lies awake listening anxiously for the sound of the German bomber planes. Often they come and the air raid siren sounds signalling that the family must leave their beds and venture out to the air raid shelter in the garden.

Despite the war raging across the English channel, daily life continues with its highlights, such as Christmas and the traditional Boxing Day fox hunt, and its wary moments when Elsie learns the stories of Jack Frost and the ghostly and terrifying Black Shuck that haunts the coastline and countryside of East Anglia.

Includes some authentic World War 2 recipes.

Through the Nethergate

Margaret, a girl born with second sight, has the unique ability to bring ghosts trapped between Heaven and Hell back to life. When her parents die suddenly, she goes to live with her beloved grandfather, but the cellar of her grandfather’s ancient inn is haunted by an evil spirit of its own. In the town of Bungay, a black dog wanders the streets, enslaving the ghosts of those who have died unnatural deaths. When Margaret arrives, these phantoms congregate at the inn, hoping she can free them from the clutches of Hugh Bigod, the 12th century ghost who has drawn them away from Heaven’s White Light in his canine guise. With the help of her grandfather and the spirits she has befriended, Margaret sets out to defeat Hugh Bigod, only to discover he wants to use her for his own ends – to take over Hell itself.

Robbie also writes as Robbie  Cheadle

Robbie’s Inspiration Blog      Goodreads    Facebook    YouTube

Amazon author page   Twitter: @bakeandwrite

Books by Robbie and Michael Cheadle

The Sir Chocolate books are a delightful marriage of story, verse and cookery

… a perfect recipe for sharing with children.  Silly Willy goes to Cape Town tells the adventures of two very different brothers…and includes five party cake ideas.

You can purchase the Sir Chocolate books from:

Amazon  Lulu.com    TSL Books

or you can buy them in South Africa directly from the authors by emailing Robbie Cheadle at sirchoc@outlook.com.

Published by Sue Vincent

Sue Vincent is a Yorkshire-born writer and one of the Directors of The Silent Eye, a modern Mystery School. She writes alone and with Stuart France, exploring ancient myths, the mysterious landscape of Albion and the inner journey of the soul. Find out more at France and Vincent. She is owned by a small dog who also blogs. Follow her at scvincent.com and on Twitter @SCVincent. Find her books on Goodreads and follow her on Amazon worldwide to find out about new releases and offers. Email: findme@scvincent.com.

63 thoughts on “Ani’s Advent 2020! Roberta Eaton ~ All I want for Christmas …”

  1. I Robbie, it’s Ruby here I enjoyed your story I am glad your mum is okay now and delighted that two cats have a happy home. It’s even better to that Greg accepts them.even if it is grudgingly. 💜💜💜.
    Hey Ani don’t worry about Santa he will find a way.💜💜😊😊😊😊

    Liked by 4 people

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  7. Pushy and Smudge are delightful. When we had cats, they adored my husband and followed him around too. They waited for him by the door until he came home and sat on his lap while he watched TV. I was just there to feed them.

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. How lovely your mum was able to have her cat after all, and not one, but two! Lucky pussies, there are so many kittens born into unpromising circumstances, its lovely to hear of two that fell on their feet. Also great that your mum is well now. Mine had breast cancer and a double mastectomy at aged 90, and the wonderful doctor informed her that he expected at least another 10 years out of her! Well, she made another nine, so she almost fulfilled his expectations. May your mum have many more years too.

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  11. I can understand your mom’s desire for a cat, Robbie. My mom is completely attached to her cat and told me that it’s her cat that gives her a reason to live (not me. Lol). And how wonderful that the cats were rescues – rescues happening in more ways than one.
    Thanks Ani for sharing Robbie’s story. I hope Santa brings you something wonderful.

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  13. What a wonderful cat story, Robbie!Isnt it wonderful having one or more animal, especially cats in the house? Our former cat has had the behaviour of eating smoked salmon, had his own scheduling and most time we felt like hired by him. Lol From one day to another he left, and never came back.We are missing him, and i am sure we will try to invite another one (but will not feed this new one with salmon again ;-)). Have a beautiful weekend! Michael

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      1. He has gone, four years in the past. Honestly, we were not very amused about his behavior with food. But without this he would have caught another bulk of neighbours pigeons.He was very good in this, and one time had offered one of the pigeons to us too. Lol At least a too expensive hobby for him, and us.:-) His independence was a little bit to much oriented on the US laws (for humans). Lol

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  15. Pingback: Ani’s Advent 2020! Roberta Eaton Cheadle All I want for Christmas … – Robbie's inspiration

  16. Lovely story, Robbie. I’m following in your Mum’s footsteps, just started the treatment last month. I’ve a long way to go, but I’m thinking — a kitten might be a sweet support. 💗

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  17. Good of you to take in the abandoned cats, especially given your son’s aversion to them. I think they are much easier to cope with than dogs. Ollie needs to be around me constantly whatever room I am in, so I doubt that sit well with your son.
    (Thanks for featuring Robbie, Sue.)
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Hi Pete, I have had dogs in the past and they are definitely more demanding to look after than cats. I won’t have a dog as my two sons with their chronic health problems are enough to deal with for the time being. The cats are quite independent and you just have to feed them and give them cuddles now and then. They get on with life on their own the rest of the time.

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  19. This is a wonderful story, Robbie. I’m glad the kittens found a happy home with your family, and that your mom is in remission.
    Gwen, I’m sending healing prayers flying your way {{hugs}}
    Ani, Santa is a wily old soul, he’ll find a way into your home, don’t worry 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Hi Liz, yes, we are very fortunate that my mother came through her treatment so well and that we caught her cancer relatively early. She was stage 2A so it could have been much worse. She showed me the lump and I pulled strings and got her a doctor’s appointment the next day. I also pulled strings to get her the special treatment for HR2 cancer as they don’t usually give it to elderly people [over 70]. We have much to be grateful for and I am glad I have some connections I could use to help her.

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  21. Wonderful story of Push-Push and Smudge thanks Robbie for sharing it with us. One is either a cat lover or not – no judgment in that! But darn it, they’re the cutest things! Happy Christmas to you and family. I can just imagine the feast/s you’ll be having 🌺🎄

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Hi Susan, I am nearly finished my Christmas project which grew legs and I ended up with help from all the nephews, nieces and my sons. We are delivering 110 baked goods packages to a local old age home on Wednesday. I have also just about finished my gingerbread / chocolate project cum Christmas gifts for each family [there are 7 coming on Christmas day]

      Liked by 2 people

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  22. Lovely story. It’s good to know Robbie’s Mom is well and the cats have been a welcome (mostly!) addition to the house. Thanks for sharing her story, Sue, and take care. Annie (and all of us) value the gift of having you around. Wishing the best Christmas and holiday season. ♥

    Liked by 1 person

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  24. What a beautiful story, Robbie. -hugs- And the best part is that the cats did their job in helping your mother overcome the cancer. There’s something about cuddling a cat, or a dog, and is incredibly…soothing. It’s almost zen, and reducing stress is implicated in a stronger immune system so…of course it works! lol

    Wishing you and your whole family, cats included, a safe and happy Christmas.

    Liked by 1 person

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  25. Ani? Try not to worry. Just being there for Sue to cuddle will eventually help her heal. Love really does work miracles.

    Wishing Sue and my second-favourite-dog-in-the-whole-world a safe and gentle Christmas. -hugs-

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