MaryL wrote:
Today is Holly's 15th birthday. She is my special "shadow cat"-wherever
I go, Holly is sure to follow. I adopted her when she was about 6
months old and was told that she was born in "early June," so I
arbitrarily set June 1 as her special day.

Holly is my delight. She loves to play, she follows me wherever I go,
and everyone who sees her thinks she is a young cat. She has a nightly
routine that still amuses me-I will hear a low-pitched "moaning" sound,
look up, and there is Holly on her way to me with her gift. It is
always the same little red mouse, and she has done this for several
years. The original mouse wore out years ago, so I bought a replacement
package. There were 4 of these little mice in the package in 4
different colors, but she always heads for the red mouse. She considers
it to be one of her "duties" to walk back and forth in front of the
computer monitor as soon as I sit down to work, and she doesn't stop
until I pet her and talk to her awhile. Then she often meatloafs on the
side of the keyboard tray or walks to the back of the monitor and sits
there peering around the side at me. I have a small bench that I keep
beside my computer chair, and that is one of here "special places"; if
she doesn't jump up to the computer, she relaxes there any time I am
using the computer. That is one place that she usually will not share
with Duffy. He has to be content with perching on the top of the
computer hutch, often hanging down toward us.

Holly is amazingly graceful and agile, especially for a 15-year-old.
She will easily leap surprising distances and never break anything.
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 jumping onto the chair.

Happy birthday, my wonderful little girl. Today is your special day.

MaryL

Photos of Holly: 'o'
Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o
Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e


Happy, happy birthday HOLLY. AND MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY. MLB & TuTu