Pets
First, there was Bart. Also known as Bartholomew Abercrombie. Do not read too much into the name. Like most of my pets, Bart was named by finding street names on a map that sounded good together. I originally bought the little fur ball because he was cute and he was on sale. I bought him from a rather disreputable pet shop, but he did have rather good papers and he was healthy. I lucked out.
For most of his life, he was a fun, friendly little dog. Once he got to about 10 years old though he started to be rather grouchy. I now suspect that might have been when his arthritis started to bother him. He also ended up having heart problems, but was relatively healthy until I had to have him put down when he was 16 ½ years old. That is pretty good age for a Lhasa apso.
Lisa came along when Bart was about 4 years old. I had no desire to have another animal in the house, but a friend was trying to get rid of some kittens and I was suckered into taking one. I justified it to myself by saying that she would be good company for the dog while I was at work. They did end up being pals. Do not read too much into the name Lisa either. Originally, I wanted to carry on the family tradition of 'L' names. I had a hard time finding a good name that started with 'L'. Doh! It was staring me in the face. How could I miss connecting the name Lisa with Bart? It worked.
Lisa was a rather affectionate cat. She would occasionally come and sleep on my lap when I was on the couch, but usually she would find a nice warm place in the bedroom to sleep away the day. Lisa got sick very suddenly right after her 11th birthday. She started having problems on Saturday, and I ended up taking her to the vet on Monday morning. Her kidneys were shutting down and there was nothing that could be done. She was so far gone at that point that there was not much to be done except to have her put down. Lisa went a few months before Bart.
Now it is just George and Amelia.
A few months later my sister Jessica was moving into a new place where she wasn't going to be able to take her cats. I volunteered to take them in. What was I thinking? I am never going to be pet free. Oh well. These two are easy to care for. George has a few issues now and then, but for the most part, he is just a big fluffy baby. It turns out that little Amelia is actually the boss. She does not let George get away with anything. He is actually quite scared of her. They make life interesting.
And finally, once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was Penny and James. These were our pets when we were kids. They mysteriously vanished when we moved to the house on Smith Lane. I seem to remember that there was a story about them going to live on a farm or something, but now I wonder how true that really was. Isn't that the usual story that parents tell their kids when the animals go buh-bye?