“Hey, little guy,” I say, scratching him behind his ears. To prevent injury to either my clothes or the skin beneath-his claws are small, but highly effective-I squat down with a cheerful, “Hi, Homer-Bear!” (A nickname given when he was a kitten on account of his glossy black fur, like a grizzly bear’s coat.) Homer takes this as his cue to jump onto my knees, placing his front paws on my shoulders and rubbing his nose against mine with much loud purring and a series of short, clipped mews that sound uncannily like the yips of a puppy. Rather than seeking the floor, however, it’s only a matter of seconds before those paws have found their way from the door to the front of my legs, and a tiny black cat makes his best effort to shimmy his way up my body as if I were a tree trunk. I’ve found that I tend to open all doors-even those in other people’s homes-with enough caution to prevent any furry miscreants from tumbling outside. The ding! of the elevator is the first cue to sensitive ears that my appearance is imminent, and by the time my key hits the lock I hear the soft press of paws on the other side of the door. The routine when I get home at the end of the day is always the same.

Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who traveled far and wide… - Homer, The Odyssey By turns jubilant and moving, it’s a memoir for anybody who’s ever fallen completely and helplessly in love with a pet.

It celebrates the refusal to accept limits-on love, ability, or hope against overwhelming odds. Homer’s Odyssey is the once-in-a-lifetime story of an extraordinary cat and his human companion. And by the time she met the man she would marry, she realized Homer had taught her the most important lesson of all: Love isn’t something you see with your eyes. He survived being trapped alone for days after 9/11 in an apartment near the World Trade Center, and even saved Gwen’s life when he chased off an intruder who broke into their home in the middle of the night.īut it was Homer’s unswerving loyalty, his infinite capacity for love, and his joy in the face of all obstacles that inspired Gwen daily and transformed her life. Homer scaled seven-foot bookcases with ease and leapt five feet into the air to catch flies in mid-buzz.

But the kitten nobody believed in quickly grew into a three-pound dynamo, a tiny daredevil with a giant heart who eagerly made friends with every human who crossed his path. It was love at first sight.Įveryone warned that Homer would always be an “underachiever,” never as playful or independent as other cats.

Then Gwen’s veterinarian called with a story about a three-week-old eyeless kitten who’d been abandoned. She already had two, not to mention a phenomenally underpaying job and a recently broken heart. The last thing Gwen Cooper wanted was another cat. Once in nine lives, something extraordinary happens…

Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper