ROCKY ADDS 13TH STEP TO MEN'S RECOVERY.Byline: DENNIS MCCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
The guys nicknamed the cat Dirtbag dirt·bag n. Slang A filthy or vile person. -- a mangy mang·y adj. mang·i·er, mang·i·est 1. Affected with, caused by, or resembling mange. 2. Having many worn spots; shabby: a mangy old fur coat. 3. , emaciated e·ma·ci·ate tr. & intr.v. e·ma·ci·at·ed, e·ma·ci·at·ing, e·ma·ci·ates To make or become extremely thin, especially as a result of starvation. black alley cat alley cat n. A homeless or stray cat. Noun 1. alley cat - a homeless cat domestic cat, Felis catus, Felis domesticus, house cat - any domesticated member of the genus Felis who snuck snuck v. Usage Problem A past tense and a past participle of sneak. See Usage Note at sneak. in the back door of Chandler Lodge in Verb 1. lodge in - live (in a certain place); "She resides in Princeton"; "he occupies two rooms on the top floor" occupy, reside move in - occupy a place; "The crowds are moving in" stay at - reside temporarily; "I'm staying at the Hilton" North Hollywood a few months ago looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. scraps of food. Dirtbag took one look around, liked what he saw and decided to stay. ``He was unwanted, unloved and homeless, living on the streets just like, well, just like a feral cat “Stray cat” redirects here. For the band, see Stray Cats. Feral cats are the descendants of domesticated cats that were abandoned by their owners or that strayed into wild areas from their homes. -- or a feral feral untamed; often used in the sense of having escaped from domesticity and run wild. person,'' Jim Whittaker James Whittaker, also known as Jim Whittaker (born in Seattle, Washington on February 10, 1929 [1]) was the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He summited on May 1, 1963 with three other people. says. Whittaker is one of 36 men living at Chandler Lodge -- three separate sober-living houses that have been helping alcohol and drug abusers straighten out their lives since the facility opened in 1960. The men pay $150 a week room and board, hold jobs during the day, then come home to lean on each other and attend nightly 12-step recovery meetings. They all know a little something about dirtbags, Whittaker says. It goes hand in hand with being called a drunk. ``When this cat showed up, most of the guys immediately related to him,'' says Mimi Williams, director of Chandler Lodge. ``We've had men who have come straight from living in boxes in alleys after exhausting the love and patience of their families and friends.'' Feral cats. Feral people. With friend Angela Carrillo, Whittaker, a screenwriter by trade, charted Dirtbag's profound effect on the men at Chandler Lodge these past few months. How the scrawny alley cat that snuck in the back door looking for food has added a 13th step to their recovery program. ``First, he started stealing food. Scraps, leftovers, sometimes even desperate enough to swipe a quick bite of Duke's dog food,'' he said. Duke's the Chandler Lodge dog. He wandered in one day about six years ago and never left. He lies around all day, but earns his keep. Turns out Duke has a nose for booze. ``He has this uncanny ability to detect when someone is loaded,'' Williams says. Anyway, Duke took one look at Dirtbag and figured out there was room enough for both of them at Chandler Lodge. He puts up with the cat, but that's about it. While Dirtbag appreciated the scraps of food, he took his time warming up to the men, Whittaker says. ``He wasn't trusting enough to come close to people just wanting to give him a little snack and attention. One day, a little brand-new plastic kitty dish appeared by the manager's office, filled with cat food. ``Brand-new cat food, out of a can, from the store, bought just for him. No scraps, no leftovers, no scrounging for somebody else's throwaways. This was his. ``Little by little, his life began to change. For the better. And so did ours. Francis of Assisi said, `God created animals to make us better human beings.' Here was living proof.'' With Dirtbag's belly now full, it was time for the guys to turn their attention to his appearance. ``Finally came the day that all of us had been dreading -- bath day. We had the hazmat suits, welder's masks and body armor standing by and ready, along with the medicated medicated /med·i·cat·ed/ (med´i-kat?id) imbued with a medicinal substance. medicated contains a medicinal substance. shampoo and flea dip. ``Then something amazing happened. Little Dirtbag sat right there in the warm soapy water and let himself be lathered up and scrubbed and bathed without even so much as a hiss or complaint. ``No whining from this little tough guy. He seemed to somehow know that as much as he disliked what he was having to endure, in the long run, it was good for him and was going to improve his life -- for the better.'' The lesson wasn't lost on the men, Williams says. They had seen this alley cat they had fallen in love with at his mangy worst, and now he was getting clean -- just like them. Dirtbag was gone. From now on, he was Rocky, the tough little cat of Chandler Lodge. ``He's given the guys somebody to love,'' Williams says. ``Somebody to pick up, hold in their arms and feel good about themselves.'' Rocky the cat. The 13th step. dennis.mccarthy@dailynews.com (818) 713-3749 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Mimi Williams and Jim Whittaker play with Rocky, the alley cat that was adopted by Chandler House, a North Hollywood home for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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