Deku could have come into this world without wobbling.
This would have spared him the war with a “hopeless situation.”
But our purring patriot was born for something more revolutionary than perfection.
In the great state of Tabby’s Place, we observe the Fourth of July with enthusiasm. That’s why we are still celebrating it on the Fifth of July.
The cats would prefer we celebrate with those little fancy frankfurters on sticks, but they will settle for catnip toys shaped like George Washington.
From Anka to Zinc, every one of our citizens is a living Declaration of Independence.
They are constitutionally opposed to mean spiritedness and plant-based American cheese. They are all five-star generals, even Colonel Peabody.
They think it is adorable that our Bill of Rights lists ten items, since theirs has ten thousand, including dominion, a Lamborghini made of mozzarella, and “everything not listed herein.”
But they are not waiting for those items to be ratified before they are gratified.
And they are certainly not waiting for perfection.
If Deku was waiting for independence before he could celebrate Independence Day, he would spend his whole life outside the party.
Our dizziest delegate was born with some awkward amendments to the “ordinary” feline constitution. His condition is rare in the extreme. Deku is the first cat in over 5,000 Tabby’s Place residents to be diagnosed with Paroxysmal Kinesigenic Dyskinesia (PKD). Deku’s disease is neither painful nor progressive, but it means he will need help and patience every day of his life.
Without warning, Deku will freeze like a popsicle in the middle of the Lobby, seemingly lost to the world until he is done “buffering.” He gets confused in corners, like a tabby Roomba. Strange skirmishes seize him, especially after he gets excited.
But Deku is devoted to getting excited.
And nothing is more exciting than needing help from people who love you.
When you are Deku, “people who love you” comprise “we the people,” all the people. Staff, volunteers, lost motorists, HVAC repairpersons, and time-traveling Founding Fathers are all here for Deku.
(I swear, and I am not making this up, that I am pretty sure a recent visiting donor couple was actually John and Abigail Adams, here from 250 years ago just to make sure we are taking good care of the country. When they saw Tabby’s Place, they were encouraged. Then Murdock pooped on John Adams’ shoe and removed all doubt.)
If, in the course of feline events, Deku had been born with “normal” abilities, he would never have landed in a shelter that could not keep him. He could have tasted self-sufficiency and feral freedom.
But if he were not needy, Deku would have never come to Tabby’s Place.
He would not, at this moment, be melting into a volunteer’s arms like a s’more. He would not have a staff who treasures his every move, hand-feeds him chicken popsicles, and sings him showtunes modified to include his name.
(The entire score of Hamilton can be improved by casting Deku in the role of Alexander Hamilton. With all due respect to the ten-dollar Founding Father, there is no one better described as “young, scrappy, and hungry” than Deku.)
He can never go it alone, but he sees that as liberation, not a limitation.
He waves his needs like a sparkler, and he gets held.
He wears his wobbliness on the outside, and he gets inside the halls of human hearts.
He can’t veto the laws of his body, but he thrives in this democracy of the doting.
Come to think of it, Deku couldn’t have come into this world without wobbling after all. Nobody does. But if none of us is free from being fragile, all of us are free to take good care of each other.
At Tabby’s Place, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all cats are created lovable, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liverwurst, and the pursuit of people who trade perfection for happiness.
We need the cats as much as they need us. (They know.)
None of us stands alone. (Some of us scoot.)
And Deku’s eyes are full of fireflies because he depends on love for life.
Happy Fifth of July, Tabby’s Place cats and people. We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our frankfurters, and our sacred honor.