Sixteen years ago, my husband, our daughter and myself were heading out to go hiking in Dewittville NY. Our daughter was six years old at the time. We pulled off the road and and before my husband or I could get out of the car my daughter was out and running into the brush, hollering there is a kitten out here.
My husband thought oh no a skunk, he made it out of the car before me, trying to avoid what he thought was disaster. When I finally got out of the car, there was my daughter holding the smallest long haired, grey kitten, my husband tried to convince her to put the kitten down, we would hike and pick her up on the way back to the car, if she was still there when we got back.
My daughter would hear nothing of that and after a second or so we were all searching to see if any more kittens had been abandoned. We only found her, Smokey as our daughter named her. She was so tiny and covered in fleas, we took her into our hearts and loved her dearly.
She loved doughnuts and you had to share yours with her. One day a friend had come over with a dozen and when we were otherwise involved, we came back to find Smokey had gotten the box open and tasted every doughnut. She lived for 16 years and died last year from old age, at home and in our arms. How any one can just abandon any animal is beyond me, but we were grateful to have had her love. We have two cats now and one dog. Both cats are shorthair, one tiger, and one calico. The tiger cat Nikita carries her tail up over her back, cant figure out why, the dog is an American Eskimo, barks a lot but all are loved.
Margaret Mcdonough - Bemus Point NY
