Meet Holly. Today is Holly's 13th birthday. She is a Teenager now. She was still another in my string of "happy accidents" adoptions.

That is, I started out to adopt one type of cat on each occasion, got one entirely different, and have been happy ever since that it worked out this way. In fact, I finally learned *never* to start out with a preconceived notion of what to look for or expect in a cat. Go with your heart and use some thoughtfulness in the process. In Holly's case, I went to our local animal shelter the day after Thanksgiving. I had lost my beloved Amber shortly before and knew it was "time" to adopt another owner. I had a few days off from work and thought that would be an opportune time because I could spend a lot of time with my new adoptee. However, the animal shelter was closed that day. So, I went to our local pet supply store. They often had kittens that people had dropped off for adoption. No such luck! There were no kittens. I got into a conversation with one of the women who worked there and told her what I was looking for. I was actually looking for a longhaired cat (that was my "preconceived notion" in this case, arrived at solely because my other cats had been longhaired and had been such wonderful companions) and also told her that I "wouldn't mind" adopting an older cat. She said, "Would you consider..." and proceeded to describe Holly. Holly was not longhaired. She was about six months old, and her origins were truly sad. She was the product of deliberate breeding where a local "breeder" (I use the term advisedly) mixed an Oriental shorthair with a Persian. The breeder was trying to develop a specific type of cat, and she only wanted dusty grey kittens. Holly is definitely not dusty grey! She is glorious, gorgeous solid black - not a single white hair on her body except for a few that grew right at the incision site from her spay. The breeder was going to euthanize Holly simply because she was the wrong color. Fortunately, the woman I talked to convinced the breeder to let her take Holly and try to find a home for her. By the time I entered the store, she had been taking care of Holly for several months but really could not afford to do that, on top of her own cats. So, I made arrangements to see Holly the next day, and "the rest is history," as they say.

Ironically, she seemed to be shorthair when I adopted her, but her coat changed to an unusually thick, plush, velvety medium length as she matured. Her name was also Jinx at the time I adopted her, named because she was black and a "bad luck cat." That was unacceptable to me! I believe every cat should have a loving name. So, she became Holly - short for "holiday cat," so named because she was adopted in between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I drove back to the store about a week after I adopted Holly and gave a check to the woman who had taken care of Holly. She was hesitant at first, but I told her I would have paid a similar amount to adopt through an animal shelter, and she had literally saved Holly's life. She was so grateful it almost made me cry.

I wrote the following for Holly's 12th birthday, and I would like to repeat it for her again this year:

Holly is a special, loving girl - my little shadow, she follows me everywhere. I wake up every morning to find her close beside me. Sometimes she will awaken me by gently licking the tip of my nose (she seems to have a built-in alarm clock because she somehow does that about 5 minutes before my own alarm goes off). Other times, she will be stretched out on top of me, and I will not even have been aware of when she did that. She believes it is one of her duties to march back in forth in front of the computer monitor as soon as I sit down in front of the computer. After all, she doesn't want her slave to work too hard (unless it involves something especially for her).

She is still playful and active and can gracefully leap to the mantel without any problem at all. There are times when I will suddenly realize that she is sitting on the arm of the chair or even on the back of the chair above my head, and I was not even aware of her climbing or jumping onto the chair. She is incredibly agile and graceful.

Holly has never been a lap cat, although she is always within a few feet of wherever I am when I am home. In the past, she would occasionally deign to get into my lap, but it was always on her terms and at a time she chose. However, I have noticed that there have been some recent, subtle changes. She is getting into my lap more often and will stay longer.

Princess Holly was adopted on Nov. 24, 1995, and she has ruled the household ever since (duties that she has shared with Prince Duffy for the last five years). The two of them have brought an immeasurable amount of joy into my life.

All images and text are Copyright © Mary L.
June 10, 2008