I'm a day early, but I figure since Mimi will turn 14 tomorrow, it is worth an extra day of love and attention for her! I asked Andrew (my son), this morning, what he thought we ought to do for Mimi's birthday, and he said he thought she deserved some shrimp or fish. Fish it will be, just for Mimi!! I don't have a new picture available yet. Still have too many pictures left on my camera to take the film, so I will share the beautiful one I used last year on her birthday (with the beautiful crown, added by Karen).
Mimi, for those of you who aren't familiar with her, came to me in 1989, as a six week old kitten. My precious Shrimp Boat was gone, after I made a horrible decision to take her camping with us, and she ran away. I was completely unconsolable (is that a word?). My husband agreed that I should get another cat, and soon. Poor man was probably tired of my tears. We were both very sad. So a girl that worked for me at the bank offered me a kitten from her litter of three. I was ready, so we agreed. Now, these weren't just any kittens, they were the product of a brother/sister mating and I had never seen them. I just knew I wanted a girl. So on a Friday afternoon, Traci's husband came in, right as we were closing up, and walked in with the most gorgeous, fuzzy girl that I had ever seen. She was just a furry lump, with a HUGE pink bow tied around her neck. She sat in my hand all the way home that day, nuzzled up next to my neck (kind of an awkward 45 minute drive), and she had not left me again since then. She has seen me through thick and thin, always right there, purring in my face, on my neck, etc. Oh I wish I had a scanner, so I could share pictures of her when she was a kitten, sleeping on Chuck's back (Chuck was our Lab and he thought she was his baby), and of the day I brought Helen home from the hospital, sat down in a chair with the baby, and Mimi immediately jumped up in my lap and went to sleep. She has lived in 7 homes in 14 years and has never missed a beat. She was once hit by a car, and I was certain that I would lose her, but by the grace of God, she survived. During my horrible divorce, she was right there. In fact, I remember an especially ugly day, when I drove up to pick up Helen, and there was all my "stuff" in garbage bags in the front yard of our home (told you it was an ugly day), and there was Mimi, sitting by those bags as if she just had to come with me. So she did! She has allowed dogs to join our family, 4 of our own, and multiple fosters. The one thing she was clearly against was another cat. Dwayne was a three week old kitten that my brother found while doing yardwork, and he brought him home. She hated him from the very beginning. We really tried to make it work, but eventually found Dwayne a new home so Mimi would quit pouting. And she did, immediately! By the time Butter joined us, two years ago, she gave up, and did not welcome him, but at least allowed him to share her space. To this day, she still hisses at him every time he walks by! Ha Ha!!! But she loves everyone else, especially Helen, and makes every day a little better for all of us! My only hope is that I can come back here, year after year, and wish my precious girl another Happy Birthday, for a long time to come!!!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...9ce10000001610
