I was born on the 4th of July...




It is hard to believe that almost 8 years have passed since that cold and rainy November day, back in 1998.

He was waiting for us in West Seattle, so Ab and I drove until we found him. His name was Jack, and we were told that he was the most lovable and friendly of the bunch. The owner of the pet feed store would take him home at night, where he would sit perched above her on the couch and help himself to a nice meal by eating off her plate.

I remember taking him home in that flimsy cardboard carrier, and I remember Pitty B’s reaction when this little 4 month old silver bullet flew into the house, and reeked havoc on her peaceful queen-like existence. I remember how he used to chew and claw on the blinds, and at 10 pm every night, how he would get his exercise…by sprinting back and forth around the house, sliding on the hardwoods the whole way.

We would play soccer, too.

And, he would taunt Nelly, the dog next door, by sitting perched on the fence between our yards….just watching…waiting.
When he was an outdoor cat, he loved to climb. And sometimes, he would find himself high up in a tree, or on our roof top. Hours later, we would hear him there, still, meowing…get ME down. One night, a friend and I even jerry rigged a ramp and tried to call him down…hmph. Yeah right.

There were the times that he would actually follow me to work, all of 4 blocks away, and I would have to walk him home, then resort to driving, so he wouldn’t follow me again.

We have traveled a lot, him and me. He drove with me down to Napa Valley and spent a few days on the Oregon Coast, watching the gulls and smelling that salt air. He lived the cabin life with me, up in the hills with views of the vineyards stretched out below..and then, he drove again, with me, back to Seattle, in the sweltering 90 plus degree heat. Panting all the way. Tough little guy.

Since then, he has won over the heart of my other love, who although allergic, gives him lots of rub downs and scratchy-scratchys. He has eaten poisonous plants, taken a trip to the ER, lived to tell…He has even had numerous teeth extracted and a teeth cleaning. And, he has flown across the country twice(once on drugs, once without), lived out in the country amongst the traveling geese and deer and now, lives in the heart of the city, amongst the constant noise and sirens.

For a cat of 8 years, he still has all the spunk in the world, despite the fact that I have just begun to feed him the senior formula cat food (which I am still in denial about…)

Happy Birthday to Yooooooouuuuu, T. Jack.