My furry kitty cat named Whiskers, every Christmas, loved getting his Christmas stocking full of treats. This included cat toys and catnip as he could smell the aroma and enjoyed it as soon as he could get his paws on them. He would go crazy and enjoy pouncing and playing along with rubbing his nose on them and rolling around on the floor. After his play time was fulfilled, he would retreat to his favorite blanket or “spot” after playing so hard. He thought he was a “human being” in his own mind and nature, especially when it came time for attention. He would interrupt you if you were trying to use the keyboard for the computer and would rub on your arm or hand. Even better yet, he would really put in energy by sitting on the keyboard as you were working on something so you couldn’t type anything. He was a very smart kitty. Whiskers very much loved being an “escape artist” almost on cue, when he would escape our home for the night to do his exploring like any typical cat would do outside. I could always count on him to be back crying at the front door wanting back inside typically around 2:00 AM, knowing he’d be in trouble for gallivanting all over the neighborhood. Our kitty, Whiskers, always loved talking to the birds that were outside through our front or back door glass windows. He would do so by making meowy noises and fluttering his whiskers on his face, vocalizing his excitement with his nature friend, bird, thinking he is in fact, a bird himself. It was entertaining for all to watch how he would engage with nature.

Whiskers always had a gentle soul and would comfort us when any of us were sick or were just having a bad day. When I would be getting ready for the Holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas, he would relax underneath the Christmas tree or keep me company while I wrapped Christmas gifts. Whiskers never once would get startled or scared when the wrapping paper was making lots of noise- when other cats never tolerate any noise or sudden moves. That’s where our fur baby was very unique.

Whiskers was a stray cat whom we met through my sister’s boss and called him “Leonardo Da Vinci”, due to his “spraying on the walls”. We later renamed him Whiskers, after he stole my heart and climbed onto my lap, securing his place in our lives and home. He had a habit that no other cat we’ve owned previously would do, that was when he would follow my husband to the bedroom and once my husband was getting settled and laid down on his stomach, Whiskers would take the liberty to climb on top of his back and stay there perched like a hen for hours on end. My husband never liked disturbing our kitty’s slumber and did not want to make any moves so as not to upset our kitty. My husband would stay still until Whiskers had enough and would finally jump down. The love from this little fur ball brought so much fun, comfort, happiness and joy. We in turn, felt like a Million Dollars just being able to consider him family with “No strings attached”, or “No rules”. Just knowing there was unconditional love on both sides of the fence made us feel like a complete family.

Our eldest daughter and Whiskers were inseparable where they would follow each other around. Playfully, our daughter made a paper airplane and randomly flew it around the living room in our condo. I managed to have my camera nearby and caught Whiskers in a midair photo. He was trying to snatch it out of the air with our daughter looking on, just cracking up with laughter. It was such a precious memory. We are so blessed to have captured this frozen moment in time in a picture. Having this special furry kitty in our lives was the BEST little addition to our family, which was very much welcomed back in 1998.