Clara

Clara at her original foster home

We stayed at 5 cats for over a year. All our kiddos get along great and even Jubilee comes out and of her throne room occasionally. (Our room is her room. She sees no need to to leave it since her cat tree and everything she wants is there. She's Jubi. We just accept it. If she's happy, we're happy.) When we adopted Rollo and Coal we also took on two more foster cats. We hadnt planned to. There was a remodeling going on at the main foster home so we had to move all the foster cats out of one room. We took 4 cats to foster for just a few days, till the room was all done. Andie and Mandy spent a few days in our bathroom and then went back to the main foster home, until we ended up adopting them a few months later. We had also taken Stella and Clara, who were two of the shyer cats and decided to keep fostering them with plans to possibly adopt them in a few months time. Obviously we ended up adopting Andie and Mandy and alot of other things happened in the next few months time to change our plans. Stella, a beautiful Tortie/Maine Coon Mix, was the first shy cat Richard really worked with. She was also somewhat tempremental and got overwhelmed easily so we really didnt feel our home was the best one for her. A quiter home with a few less cats seemed a better idea, but since she had been with our rescue since 1999 that didnt seem very likely to happen. Low and behold a year after we started fostering her we got a wonderful application to adopt her! We struggled with adopting her out but once we met her new mom we knew it was right. Stella hid when her new mom came to meet her, not even coming out from under the futon and yet her mom wasnt put off. We were shocked when she said she still wanted to adopt her. She knew Stella just needed time to trust her. Adopting Stella out was very hard as we were very attached to her but it worked out so well. Her mom stays in touch with me and often sends me pictures to show how well Stella is doing. She has blossomed so much in her new home and even lets her mom pick her up, something she never let us do. Stella realy got her dream home.

Stella and Clara

It's amazing how the timing of things works out. God really was looking out for me. For the next few months, adopting a cat was not really anywhere in my mind. I was too busy loving my boy and letting him go. I'll need to write a seperate entry on Baby Boy, to tell his story. Clara's story is somewhat entwined with his though so there has to be some mention of him. After Baby Boy left this earth we broke one of our cardinal rules:We let Clara out in the house with out cats. We dont usually mix our cats with our fosters. Baby Boy wanted to be out with our guys some though and since I couldnt deny him anything he spent time out in the house. Since Clara was his roomate she came too. Once he was gone I wasnt going to leave her in the foster room by herself so she came out into the house. Besides which, in the entire time we has been fostering her (over a year and a half now) we had never had anybody apply to adopt her. (Technically that's not entirely true. The wonderful woman who adopted Stella had expressed some interest in adopting Clara, but since she and Stella could be pretty snotty with each other that wasnt a great idea.) So Clara wasnt going anywhere. She knew all our kids, had been with them at the main foster home so once her and Mandy stopped hissing at each other they were all fine. She adores Nilla and the two of them look so cute together-A big white dog and a little black cat. Other people do mix their fosters and own cats, but I never have since I get attached too easily. Anyway, Christmas was coming and Richard kept telling me he had gotten my main present already and it would make me cry. I kept thinking he was going to get me something to memoralize Baby Boy and I wasnt ready for that. I had no idea what he had planned. So Christmas Day comes and my first present is a calendar of black cats. I love black cats so I was thrilled. My last package is flat and thin. A folder. I was compeltely confused now. Then I opened it and there was an adoption contract already filled out with Clara's name. He was right. I cried. He handed me a pen and I signed it and Clara was officially mine. Clara seemed to know things were permanent now. She was out and in the middle of everything all day. I could never have let her go. I have loved her since she was at the main foster home. She's so shy she used to hide but would come out when I called her and let me pet her. She has the softest fur, it feels just like a bunnies, thus her middle name became Bunny. Clara is pretty shy and most strangers will never see her. Richard's parents were over visiting this Summer and Clara shocked us all by coming out of hiding and climbing all over Richard's Dad. Richard told me that's when he decided this was definitely her home. I had known it all along, from the moment she let me pet her all those years ago.