JUNIOR

Pets always become a larger part of your family than you expect. It is hard to believe that Junior, our Siamese cat, has been with us for over 17 years. He is a friend, companion, and one of the most important parts of our family.

I remember the first time we saw Junior. It happened to be feeding time for all the kittens. The mother gathered the troops together and headed off to a secluded corner, but one of the kittens stayed. For some reason, Junior found my mother and I more intriguing than his lunch. Prancing around and climbing the curtains, he made quite a spectacle of himself. As fate would have it, he was not one of the kitten that was spoken for.

My father describes Junior the best when he says, "Junior is a fighter, not a lover." Junior spent his earliest years, in Saudi Arabia, being beaten-up by the neighborhood cats. When he finally was big enough to fight back (at a whopping 20 lbs.), he really showed them who was boss.

Throughout his life, Junior has had companions as well as enemies. His greatest companions were Freeway, our guinea pig, and Sheba, our cat. Initially, Freeway and Junior weren't quite certain how to relate to one another. After a few weeks, they established quite a good relationship. Junior and Freeway would spend lots of time playing together, while Sheba watched the action.

For all his adventures, we love Junior most when he curls up on our laps at night, or visits us when we are sick or upset. We love him dearly and couldn't imaging what our lives would have been like without hime. -Junior's Mom