The O'Collins look like the average family at first glance. It's that second and third glance where things get complicated. Perhaps a better word to describe the O'Collins would be "creative." It sounds significantly more favorable than "menace makers," or "obnoxiously loud," and worse yet, "please move now so the neighborhood can quiet down to a reasonable status." When you're a household of 7, it just gets crazy from time to time.
Mr. Jensen has the privilege of living next door to the O'Collins. He thought retirement looked like relaxation in a peaceful backyard shaded by aging oak trees and a beautiful garden claiming the sunny corner of his perfectly manicured lawn. The O'Collins helped to put a new twist on this retirement plan. Chip and Charlie added a whole new dimension to the O'Collins. Together they created a world of adventure, a world that constantly said, "learn to live with it or go crazy trying!"
Chip and Charlie came to live with the O'Collins in the usual cat meandering way. The stray cat knows what he wants and how to fandango his way into your heart and home. It's a bit of a mystery as to how Charlie became a skinny, pirate-eye looking kind of cat, but it helped to pull the sympathy strings of Jack O'Collins' heart. It also helped that Charlie looked a whole lot like Jack's childhood cat, Puff. Puff was an unusual cat that actually enjoyed it when you vacuumed him gently to remove the loose fur and dander that kept Jack sneezing his way through a tissue box. It took quite a toll on Jack when he was a 10 year old boy, to suddenly lose Puff when grandma didn't see him lounging under her car. Taking in Charlie was almost like getting a cherished childhood pet back. Charlie was like a 2nd Puff, but taller and skinnier. It momentarily lapsed from Jack's memory that cats equal lots and lots of sneezing. Too late. Charlie secured his place in the O'Collins' home. He's only one cat. How bad can it be?
We'll let Chip answer that for you. I don't know how he does it, but everywhere he goes, a lot of attention is sure to follow. He likes it like that. Poor Chip. He had been thrown to the curb as a 3 month old kitten because the Lindbergs couldn't deal with another litter from their unaltered, street rooming, very friendly female feline. John and Julie, the oldest of the O'Collins children, scooped up this adorable hunk of trouble and hid him in John's room. Timing is everything. John and Julie knew that the right timing could mean hello or goodbye for Chip. A good sob story pairs quite nicely with timing and they knew just the right tear jerker to hook their mom, Vickie. She'll swallow this hook, for sure. Shoot, she'll swallow the whole pole!
What a big happy conglomeration of chaos. Two cats for everyone in the family to love. Lucy and Lawrence O'Collins are 3 year old twins and especially eager to love Chip and Charlie. They just need a little guidance before that love turns into a death squeeze. Bonnie may only be 8, but she is the O'Collins that our boys count on for a prompt and glorious rescue. Close calls are frustratingly frequent and somebody better do something about the toddlers getting in the way of drawing in sufficient air!
"Charlie, where did you get that piece of chicken?" The smells of a slightly over refrigerated, over cooked chicken wafted their way into Chips nostrils.
"I know how to dig for buried treasure, Chip. I don't know if I want to give away my resources, though. I worked hard for this!"
"Charlie!! You're in trouble!!" Vickie shouted from the kitchen. Being a mother of 5 kids proves to be no easy task in this busy household, and Charlie wasn't helping to make things any less difficult.
"Resources, huh? Looks like your resourcing is gonna cost ya!" Chip didn't know if he should laugh or show disappointment. Can't burn any bridges with Charlie.
"Where are you, Charlie? Come here! Look at this mess, you trouble maker!" Vickie's voice was escalating with irritation.
"Oh yeah, Trouble's my middle name! Trouble keeps my stomach happy, too. No need, though for me to take all the credit. We could frame Dixie, and let her take the fall."
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Adventures Of Chip And Charlie
HumorSure, they live a good life, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be upgraded to uninterrupted royal treatment and outright kings in a kingdom. Chip and Charlie have this idea of how life should be, but living in a household of 7 puts that very idea t...
