As promised, kitty pix. 

The tortie on the left is Rainbow, Raini for short. She's 18, been with me since September of 2000. Picked her up at a shelter in LaCrosse WI.

Shadow is the black one on the right. She turns 17 tomorrow. Got her from the Montevideo airport. I was doing a story on how the Red Cross was flying blood donated that day back to the Cities, and the kids at the airport brought me their kittens to coo at. A couple weeks later I went back to pick Shad up.

My cats are my kids. I knew when I was little, like 3 years old little, that I didn't want children of my own. That hasn't changed. I just don't have the patience to put up with little ones 24/7/365.  I can do the babysitting thing just fine, a few hours or overnight is cool. Longer than that, forget about it.

Cats are easy, give them access to food, water, a clean litter box and cuddles when they want, life is good. That is, until they start getting older and get sick. Or as I noted earlier, they pick up on what's going on with me and manifest it in their own bodies and behavior.

Raini has hyperthyroidism, which I'm treating with an herbal remedy called Resthyro. Within a week her old personality started coming back. She's still clingy, but she will go sleep in her crate when she knows she's getting on my nerves.

Shadow, Shadow, Shadow. Otherwise known as Shadow Brat, because she is a brat at times. She's loud, noisy, a 15 pound lump of moving fur that takes over and expects me to dote on her hand and paw. She thinks she's the head of the house. If my mother were alive, she would probably say that I got a cat that behaves just like I did as a kid. Not so much, thank you.

Yes, my parents, when they were still alive, got grand cats, not grandkids. I figured my brothers and sister had six boys, two each, and that was enough grandkids for them. Three of the boys are older than I am, three younger. Let's see, Glen is 46, Gene 45, Shane will be 42 in September, David is 38, Bill is 36 (5th nephew born on my 5th birthday), and Clint is 33. All but Shane have at least two kids, and one of those kids has at least one of their own as well. I think.

My cats are my family. My blood family I don't hear from unless someone dies. No one called to check up on me after the bridge collapsed last year, even though they all know I live here. I'm closer to my cousins than I am my own family.

Hence, my created family. There's the Jones Clan, K & G and their kids. J Thing 1 is 15, Thing 2 is 14, Thing 3 is 10 and Thing 4 just turned 6. Then there is the Dominik Clan, J & A and their kids R and J2. They are my family. They have shown me more love and caring than my blood family ever has. 

That's why, when I wrote my will and trust, that G & A are my executors, and they are the ones that will inherit whatever I have when I die.

Family is what you make it. Mine is kinda furry and definitely not conventional. And that's OK by me.