A Rhinestone Cougar

For Valentine's Day, Nick gave me a necklace. I remember that he'd bought something for me at the zoo because he asked me a bunch of questions about the animal I liked the best that day and he borrowed money at the gift shop. I had no idea what he bought for me.

So, on Valentine's Day, Nick gave me this necklace, a wild cat made out of rhinestones.  It looks like a cougar.

I love seeing the cougars, lions and jaguars at the zoo. I think that's what I told him that day. We had spent a lot of time watching the lions. They'd just been fed and they sat at the window with great knobs of bone torn from some unknown creature. They played after that, being full-sized cubs of a mother who barely tolerated their exuberance.

I really did like watching them. Their antics were fascinating.

But today, as I got dressed, I saw that rhinestone cougar on my dresser. I hadn't worn it except for Valentine's Day. I hadn't even worn it that whole day.

I'm not a rhinestone kind of girl. I'm not.

It's hard to put this necklace on, it's so not my style.

But what do you do? If your thirteen year old boy got you a present without ever having to be reminded, you wear that present whenever you think of it. You try to wear that present whenever you think about it. It's a lovely present. It really is.

I hope it doesn't tell any strangers on the street that I'm a cougar. I really don't want to be a cougar, especially not a rhinestone one.

So, if you see me on the street, don't snigger. Just don't. Especially if Nick is with me. It's a lovely present. It really is.

Thank you for listening, jb