Linus and Lucy

by Glynda
(Coquitlam, BC CANADA)

When my very first cat that I'd brought back to Canada with me from the Bahamas had to be put to sleep, I told people that I didn't want to get another cat for a while, to give me time to get over my loss.

A few weeks later, however, one of the girls that I worked with came into my office to tell me about a litter of kittens that they found in a stable without a mother cat to look after them. So the girls at the stable took the kittens home to look after. So this litter was hand-raised and they were now looking to find people to adopt them.

After first saying "no", I thought it over and decided I would adopt one. And then my co-workers talked me into adopting two. So I got permission from my strata to have more than one cat and off my son and I went to pick up the kittens.

When we got there, they'd changed their mind and were keeping one of the kittens, so home we came with the one little black guy. I phoned a friend who was into cat rescue to find out where I could get another kitten - which ended up being a feral kitten, but that's another story. :)

I let my son try to come up with a name for the black one and I tried to come up with a name for the tabby (which I almost took back to the vet that I got her from when I found out she was feral and had immediately gone into hiding, but was talked into "giving her a chance" by my cat-rescue friend).

I came home from work a couple of days later and my son told me he'd decided to name the cat Linus, and I immediately knew what I was going to call the tabby... Lucy. Of course !! So Linus and Lucy came into our lives at that time. I absolutely adored Linus and wasn't at all sure about Lucy at that time.

Unfortunately, Linus ended up with lung cancer at three years old and, after having his chest drained as long as possible by my vet, I eventually had to put him down. My son and I were both devastated as he was the coolest cat ever.

At that point, Lucy started to come out of her shell little by little and has ended up being one of my best buddies ever. It's funny, but the two cats (of the 7 that I currently have) that I'm closest to are the ones that there were issues with when I got them - the other had been abused by a woman and didn't want anything to do with me at first. So it just shows how much love can turn a cat around. :) And I still think of my Linus after well over 10 years since I lost him.

I now volunteer with VOKRA here in the lower mainland area of Vancouver and we help find kittens and older cats GOOD homes. It is a great organization and I'm proud to be a part of it for over 10 years now. And I'm very happy to be a "crazy old cat lady"!!