THE KIDS!

Over the years many of you have heard me talk about my two beloved cats, Alex and Isaac. They are basically like children to Rick and I and we love them dearly.

The first cat of my very own I got when I was 13. It was spring of 1980 and I was at a farm with my father to purchase seed potatoes for the garden. A big gust of wind blew and slammed a barn door shut, almost catching a tiny little barn kitten when it did. The old Vermont farmer picked up the little critter and tossed it to me saying "take this kit'n home 'fore it gets kilt".

I will never forget looking at my father to see if it was ok, but what was he supposed to say - the old gent had just givin it me! :) So, we headed home with this absolutely loving cat which I soon called "Tator", named for the Potato farm where he was recently born.

Tator was grayish in color with tiger kind of stripes and big double paws. He loved to sleep on my bed, drink milk, lay in sunny windows and wake me up promptly at 6AM every morning with a deep yawl. He would kneed the blankets if I didn't respond. He was determined to disallow morning sleep-ins!

On Christmas Eve in 1992 Tator had a seizure and was later diagnosed as diabetic. We started administering insulin shots on a daily basis and he lived a wonderful and happy life. We eventually lost Tator September 25, 1997.

So, eating lunch at Wendy's one Saturday afternoon the following year, Rick said "we need to get another cat". Oh my god, I was so excited! The search began and over the follow couple of weekends we logged 1,000 miles on my new car looking at kittens all over New England. We eventually discovered a breeder in Lempster, New Hampshire that raised kittens as a hobby. She was a full time nurse but had a great set up for her hobby at her house. Clean, neat and very healthy kittens. It was here that we found a handsome little kitten already named Alexander.

ALEX - Born June, 1998

Alexander, whom we now call Alex, is a Persian. His color is known as Shaded Silver, but he really looks almost completey white at first glance. He is certainly a lap cat and wants to be with you wherever you are. Try sitting in my recliner at night without him at your feet! He has big green eyes, a quiet little meow and he likes to watch the birds outside the living room window.

One early summer day in June, 2001 we received a note from the breeder that included some pictures of her newest litter of kittens. There was this adorable little blondie that had the brightest blue eyes at the time. Immediatly we could justify getting a "friend" for Alex. So we drove to Lempster and looked at the little guy in person. He was the sweetest kitten ever. So we agreed to adopt him and we returned in July to pick him up at 6 weeks old.

ISAAC - Born May, 2001

We named the newest addition to our family Isaac. He is an Exotic Longhair and he has a huge personality. He likes to be brushed, loves to follow you around the house and talks really loud. He doesn't like to be ignored, loves his treats and likes to lay on the table in the sunporch.

Now you know all about the little ones that we have at home. They really are our babies!