They come into our lives....and steal our hearts away

I still have distant memories of just how quickly, at the age of 10, my heart was stolen by my very first furry friend. At the time, I was in grammar school and my mother happened to be volunteering for lunch duty that day. Which for her in those days, was quite a feat. With 6 children at home, I'm not sure where she found the time to make the 40 minute round trip drive back and forth to our school. At some point in the morning, I recall glancing out the classroom window and seeing a tiny white kitten sitting on the cement roof of the stairs that led down to our basement cafeteria. I thought nothing more of it until I arrived home from school and saw that we had a new member of the family, except this one had a sweet pink nose and two pointed ears, with so much fluffy white fur, he resembled my mother's powder puff...and that's exactly how he got his name...Puff. He slept with me and I instantly became his caretaker. At first, I was scratching my head.... here was my mother, who had no time or energy to care for another living thing, yet she had taken it upon herself to rescue this lost little kitten from our school yard. I didn't give it another thought, he was now my responsibility and I considered myself incredibly lucky to have a my own pet in a busy household shared by 8 people. My brothers had no interest in a kitten, and my little sister and 4 year old baby brother, would tease him and run away. It became apparent to me, that this kitten would need my protection and love, if it was going to survive in our large family. I fed him little pouches of tender vittles and watched him grow. Years later he'd had enough with all the kids running around the house, and decided to make the woods behind our house his personal hunting grounds. He was a tough old boy as he aged, and would come back to visit every once in a while, climbing up the back steps to look for a plate of food. It would be another 20 years before another animal would come into my life and steal my heart away.

They say that only bad things come in threes...well that could not be further from the truth for me. In the mid 90's I was pet sitting for my mother's little shitzu, Christi, and whenever she would come back from vacation to take her home, I felt such sadness saying goodbye to her dog. It was time for us to get a pet, and although I love all animals, my heart knew a kitten would be perfect for our family of four. The whole walking the dog in the cold and wet weather, just didn't appeal to me...a litter box was right up my alley. Not being the most patient person once I've made up my mind, I called around and found a local vet who had recently rescued a litter and had a few left to adopt out. I made a beeline for his office and came home with a sweet female, who we named Indy--short for Independence, she was born on the 4th of July. It had been so long since I'd had a pet, I rushed to the library to find a book and read all I could about raising a kitten. First and foremost, it suggested getting a second kitten to keep the 1st one company. So, I marched right back to the vet, picked out her brother, took him home and we named him Rocket. They were quite the pair and kept us entertained all day, running around after each other morning, noon and night.


They always curled up together to sleep.

About a month later, my brother from California was moving back east and needed someone to watch his grown cat while he got settled in NYC. I was a little leery at first, here I was with two brand new kittens, and I had a cat cousin to add to the mix. We went from a no pet household to a 3 pet household in the short span of three months.



She was full of piss and vinegar, and ran circles around those two boys.


Poor Junior, my camera didn't capture his beautiful eyes.


Rocket loved to crawl up on my lap and find a comfy spot to sleep.


They were such happy cats, never mischievous or sneaky.


She waited for me to come to bed, she loved curling up around my neck to sleep.

We fell in love with Junior, his big blue/grey eyes just made my heart melt...he was ours from that day forward, my brother was just outta luck. Those three cats continued to be a part of our lives as the kids left home and went off to college. In the spring of 2000, we'd had enough of the horrible New England winters and decided to move from CT to FL. By August, there we were with the three of them, in their cages in the back seat of the car, driving down 95 heading toward warm, sunny skies. They were an important part of our family for almost another 10 years, until one by one, we sadly said goodbye. It broke my heart each time one of them left us. In 2010, for the first time in 30 years, it was just Roger and I at home. We knew with all the traveling we did, it would not be a smart move to start over again, with another animal who would come into our lives....and steal our hearts away.

This summer, we were so excited to hear that our daughter and our soon-to-be son in law, were planning on adopting a rescue puppy. As much as Stacey had always loved cats, Scott is allergic and a dog seemed to be a great fit for them now that they had a house, with a nice backyard. We absolutely fell in love with the newest member of the family...Otis is our new grand puppy and we could not have been happier to welcome this sweet little boy into our hearts. Although they live in Boston, they generously share pictures and videos of all of his cute puppy antics. It pleases me to no end to see what loving and caring pet parents they have both become, in such a short period of time. We anxiously wait for updates on his progress and look forward to the day we get our first doggy kiss from this adorable, playful puppy. There will alway be room in my animal-lover's heart for the pets that I encounter along the way...I just wish I could bring all of them home. I couldn't be more proud of both Stacey and Scott, as I watch their love and commitment grow for each other and this beautiful animal who has come into their lives..... and stolen their hearts away.


New puppy sleeping on his daddy's lap.


Not small for now....Otis was quickly growing into his long legs and floppy ears


He has the sweetest face


Never more happy than when he is outside with his Mommy.


He loves the water and can keep Scott very busy


No longer a small puppy, he has outgrown Scott's lap in 4 short months


Sleepy boy, sweet boy


He has truly stolen my heart away...