This is Italia! She was born March 17, 2008 - A very good day to be born, yes?
I really am a sucker for cute little fuzzy things. I usually own a few and they get taken away from me by one or the other of my children, and this is exactly what happened to me and why now, I have Italia rather than Monet, the calico kitten I actually picked out from the no-kill yesterday.
I was visiting the no-kill with my daughter ONLY because Caity was called by the vet earlier in the day with information about a little Siamese kitten that was up for adoption. We went to pick up the little monster, but found it to be wormy and unadoptable. We told the vet we wouldn't mind waiting, but the look in her eyes told me there would be no adopting this particular kitten. Apparently there were more things wrong with it, and the diagnosis of "wormy" was just a nice way to not let on to Caity that the baby kitty would be crossing the Rainbow Bridge later in the day.
However, because we had our hearts set on adopting a little one, we visited (with the vet's recommendation) a wonderful no-kill foster family and found an absolutely adorable blue-eyed solid black male kitten with the fluffiest of fur. He was just so heart-stoppingly gorgeous that Caity was taken immediately. Of course we gave our donation as we were leaving and wouldn't you know it - another cat decided to catch a ride out the door and into the world of living with fewer cats. She is a gentle, but firm-holding calico which I found unable to resist. I found her unable to resist because she had literally crawled up my body and onto my shoulder with a look of sheer determination; she was NOT staying in the shelter another minute. Not when there was a perfectly good family that could take her to a forever-home.
I did that! I took Monet (because she is painted. I wanted to give her a unique and qualifying name) with me, with Caity, and with Gideon her new black baby kitten. We drove home. I spent the next hour or so gathering all the necessary things you need to buy and all the necessary things you need to do to your house when you bring home a kitty. Gideon would of course live with Caity, and Monet was to live with me. Monet decided otherwise. She didn't want to leave Caity's house once I deposited her there, and she didn't want to venture further from the company of Gideon, who we now believe she was following - it had nothing to do with me in the first place. She was and is Gideon's best friend apparently.
This morning when I woke up I had thought about the possibilities of housing a cat of my own - the thought left my head quickly enough, but I couldn't quite shake it. I knew it was really ridiculous to go out and pick up another cat from the no-kill, they have a 2 cat limit so you over-do it, and for that I'm thankful. I could just sit back and relax and if I needed to I could go visit Caity's babies...but I couldn't get over my feelings. I couldn't stop thinking that I too deserved a little kitty-loving as well as the doggie-loving that I get on a daily. Besides, I give cat owners such a bad time, and I say some terrible things about cats, it was the least I could do to actually show the world that I don't REALLY think all cats are from Hell, I just say that - and sometimes mean it somewhat, but no where near all the time, and I don't think EVERY cat is worthless, just....well, other people's cats.
So, I did what I do best. I used the internet and found a mess of little fuzzies for sale ($5.00 each to cover the ad in the paper and online) and I went by the house to see the cats, to just you know - observe them. There was one left. There was ONLY one left, and you know what that means: someone else could come by and get him if I didn't take him - her home with me right then! Five dollars isn't too much to ask, and I could name this one and not have to worry about the kids stealing it (damn kids). I turned her over, looked really close, and determined she was a girl. I named Monet after a painter, but with a black cat you have fewer choices. Everyone expects you to name a black cat something witchy, or Blacky, Inky, something having to do with their color. Well, I did too, sort of. I thought of the most beautiful black haired woman in the world - Ava Gardner, but my friend has a cat named Ava! Dangit...the second most beautiful black haired woman wouldn't do, so I named her for the country that produces most of the most beautiful black haired women...which is saying something. I could have named her China, Mexiana, or even Aztec, but I went with Italia. I love Sophia Loren - originally she had black hair!
So, there you have it. I am the biggest sucker on the face of the Earth, but when the roll is called in Heaven God will say I did a great job loving His babies and his creatures. I know I will be blessed forever here, as well as forever there, and when all is said and done, I will be loved by as many as I can be loved by. Love gives and it is taken. Sometimes we get to choose.
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