Holly's 15th birthday

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