15 years ago two litters of kittens were left on the doorstep of our vet in Houston, TX moments before I arrived to pick up some medication for one of our dogs. We recently lost on of our cats and thought one of the kittens would make a good companion. My wife choose the two that were runts and least likely to be chosen by anyone else. Their personalities provided their names: The gorgeous but not to bright was Thelma, and the beautiful orange tabby smart leader of the pack became Louise.
Thelma truly was a fabulously beautiful Maine Coon cat with a full tail held erect with the last two inches bent at a right angle as she marched across the room. She entertained us by licking drinking water from her paw one dip at a time. She became the surrogate mother of our next kitten, Natasha, and remained the loving and respectful alarm cat by gentle patting my wife’s face each morning when it was time for the up-rights to rise and prepare the morning repast for the feline residents of the home.
Natasha and Louise and the rest of us will miss Thelma, but her warm memory will stay with us forever.

Robert and Pat M.