Trixie: I started out talking about our family and that we are story tellers. By passion. That's how we live, through stories. That's how we pass on knowledge from one generation to the next. Some of the stories we tell are true. Some are embellished. All of the ones that are any good have been embellished.

Greg: Yes, what is it that J.R.R. Tolkien says? 'All good stories deserve embellishment'*.

Trixie: (laughs) They don't make such great stories otherwise. So, I am telling a story that starts out as fiction and it ends up with truth. Our favorite story, we call "The Cat on the Roof." And the story is about two brothers. They are gone [grown up]. Neither of them are married. Both are prosperous, successful, et. cetera. The mother is by herself, and one of them [the brothers] has this cat that he is very fond of and [the first brother] is kind of an introvert. The other one is an extrovert and he is a joiner. He has a magnificent life. But the introvert, one thing he always wanted to do was to have a trip to Europe. 

But, he didn't think he could go because had a responsibility to his mother and to this cat. He had to take care of this cat. So he and his brother were talking one day and his brother says "Oh don't let that stop you, I can easily take care of mother by myself and I'll take care of the cat while you're gone. Just get your plan together and go." So he decided that he would. He got everything lined up because he is very meticulous.

I think he was an accountant. (laughs) So he got on the plane in New York and flew overnight to London. And as soon as he got settled in the hotel room, he called home to see how things were going. And [the brother] says "well, things are going really well. Nothing to worry about here. Except, your cat jumped off the roof and killed itself."

"Dead on impact." And the guy says "You got to be kidding!" (laughs) And [the brother] says "Well that's to bad but you know…it's the way to go." And he says "What do you mean? What are you talking about?" And [the brother] says, "well, just calm down now and enjoy the rest of your trip."

So the next day he calls back and says, "I've decided to come home because I can't continue this [trip] with knowing that my cat is dead." [His brother] says, "you can't do anything for the cat, just enjoy the trip, and use it to help you forget about the cat."

"Well ok," he says, "I'll try." So he waited a couple of days, and he called back and says "you know, you were very insensitive about telling me that my cat died. You know you should have given me a little more preparation. You don't just say, ‘your cat jumped and killed itself’.”  And his brother says "I guess that was kind of  insensitive. How would you have liked for me to have done it?" And he says "you could start out by saying that the cat got up on the roof and you tried to get the cat down but he wouldn't. He just wanted to stay up there, and so we let him stay for the next day and we went back and tried to coax the cat with food and water. And maybe the second or third day, the cat kinda showed that he might be interested. And he was turning around right on the edge of the roof and slipped and fell you know. Not just he fell and 'dead on impact'!” 

The brother says "well, I see what you mean. I am sorry about that, I'll try to keep that in mind for the future."

So [the other brother says] "Ok, you have a good time. Call me occasionally." A couple days later, he called his brother and he says "I am having a good time. I've decided I can do that." The other brother says "well, I have something to tell you: Mother is up on the roof…Don't worry about it cause we are trying to get her down." (laughs)

Greg: That's so horrible! (laughs) Wow, what a story!

Trixie: So this has always been one of mine and my children's favorite stories. And every once in a while we will refer back: "Is this a cat on the roof story?" Is this story gonna get worse?

It's just an understanding that we have…If you start out like this “it's gonna be a cat on the roof story…” I had a second marriage and my second husband, right away was informed of the cat on the roof story.

Because you have to understand that this is the way this family worked... So we were out one weekend in summer and we were painting the house. The house itself was painted but the roof has a step down, you know?