Willis wasn't my first cat, but he is the first I remember well, and remains the best cat I've ever had, tied with Frankie. I have fond memories of him interrupting my homework by climbing on my lap and laying across it. We went on vacation once, leaving a heap of food out for him, but when we came back, he was nowhere to be found for a week solid. After a couple days, I began wandering around our field with an open can of tuna and calling his name, hoping he'd be in the area. Then one day at breakfast, dad suddenly got up and told me to follow him. I had no idea why, but was vaguely curious, and followed. He had finally returned, and it was one of the happiest days of my life.

Brak wasn't with us long, and so I have neither many pics, nor much to say, but sure made an impression. He always appeared kind of noble to me, somehow.

Our neighbor found Twinkie in a tree as a kitten, and knowing we liked cats, asked if we wanted her. She was the size and (roughly) shape of a twinkie, and I'm not the most creative of people. Ding Dong was her daughter, and was the only silver/black cat I've ever seen, and it seemed fitting to continue the tradition. One night, Twinkie figured out she could reach my window (2nd story). I woke up to her meowing, but being dark, I could just BARELY make out a face right outside my window. Once I got over the shock, and my hairs stopped standing on end, I found it hilarious, and let her in. Aaaand Ding Dong followed in her footsteps... She never did un-learn to do that, either, despite my best efforts. Probably because it never stopped working :P I lived in a rented room for a while with Ding Dong, who seemed to hate the sight of other cats, so whenever she wanted outdoors, I'd have to shove her under my shirt to keep her from seeing the others. She'd still growl, but was much calmer.

Frankie was probably the best lap cat imaginable. She rarely got up from my lap on her own, almost always outlasting either my need to do other stuff, or my bladder. My record for how long she was on my lap: 6 hours. When she was little, half the time I'd bend down to pet her, she'd leap up to my shoulder and stay there, sometimes even falling asleep. I didn't know eyes could be as bright blue as hers, until she came along.

Stu showed up one day at work before I moved to Missouri, and stuck around since I quickly began bringing food, and when he began letting me, lovins. Shortly before I moved, my boss asked me if I was going to take him, and if I wasn't, he was going to take a shovel to him. Nine solid hours of the most annoying meow EVER ensued. Every 2-3 seconds. Memory has it similar to the in-heat meow females give. We were both miserable. I don't regret taking him, but dang...

I found Winkie at a job site, eyes not even open yet. After about a year, I noticed she was acting lethargic, and planned to take her to the vet on my next day off (2-3 days away). A couple days later, I came home to find her apparently sleeping in the litter box, and unresponsive till I touched her. I didn't know fleas could kill, and will still crush them between my fingers every chance I get.

Momma Kitty and family (especially Schroedinger!) have been the only even partly feral cats I have managed to tame. Although, I'm not entirely sure I should include Schroedinger as even partly feral, as he was always super friendly. Momma though, wouldn't get within 10 feet of me for a long time, but will now let me pick her up and hold her, and purr while I do it! Both him and Schroedinger were run over, and within a month of each other.

Having no cats after Frankie passed, I eventually began thinking of where to get another, and got word of a friend's granddaughter who had decided she couldn't continue to care for hers. Ozzy is the quietest cat ever, and loves to be spun on my swivel chair till he can't stand up. He'll also sometimes jump up on my bed in a way that gets him under the fitted sheets! Maya irritated me at first, but her meow grew on me. She often has a kind of "double-chirp" meow I don't think I've ever heard before. She also used to be pretty paranoid, and took a while to warm up to me. Still a bit skiddish, even now.

Crystal found Huckleberry as a kitten among the horde, and really wanted to keep him. As we had nowhere to keep him at the time, I brought him home to join Ozzy and Maya, and I'm sure glad I did! He's as cuddly as Maya, and has a REALLY floofy tail! He loves to get in my way while using my computer, as you can see, much like Frankie did. HESAGOODBOOOOY!