I have a dear friend named Denise.  Denise and I have been friends since my 20 year old was 2 and her 19 year old was 1.  Denise was transferring here from Rochester, New York and I was her agent.  We hit it off and Denise has been a part of my family ever since.  Her heart is as big as the great outdoors and her hobby is people.  She loves to collect people and her home is often the gathering place for a diverse group of people and we sit around and eat and laugh quite a bit.  Denise lost both her dog and cat this summer. Her dog, an incorrigible beagle named Buddy, left a huge whole in her heart.  He was famous for stealing anything he deemed edible that wasn't nailed down.  He once pinned Max to the floor as a toddler to steal the cookie right out of his mouth.  He had a loud, baying bark and while we all found him humorous, no one loved him as much as Denise did.

She lost her cat, a sweet black cat named Pepper, a few days before driving her only child off to college!  Pepper was extremely overweight and had very short legs.  I always said that if she had tassels on either end, she'd look like a foot stool.  She was often found laying on her back on the kitchen floor with all four feet up in the air looking like road kill! 

Now that Matt, Denise's son was off to college, Max and I wanted desperately to get her a pair of kittens.  Denise agonized, she wanted to get two grown cats that no one else would want so that she could save a pair of lives.  I wanted her to have babies, so they would fill her up and make her laugh and cheer her up.

Into all of our lives came a little kitten with a white face and a striped back.  He had a little mask on his face of tabby stripes and he was adorable.  Terry, a friend of Denise, came home from a college hunting trip and heard crying in her yard.  There he was, all 6 weeks of kitten, yowling away.  She called Denise, Denise called us and another close family friend and soon a crowd had gathered over Denise's home.  Everyone picked names and I am happy to say that my name is the one that stuck.  Denise calls him Bandit.

We took JJ over to visit Bandit the other night.  JJ's only interaction with cats is with our perpetually disgruntled, gender conflicated and quite nasty cat, Scat.  When Bandit hissed at JJ, he ran behind me!  He was actuallyy afraid of this little kitten.  Here's a picture showing you just how small Bandit is.  JJ looks like a St. Bernard next to this kitten!

Since adopting Bandit, Denise has learned of a 5 week old smokey gray tabby in need of adoption, being cared for at the local animal hospital.  Denise has first dibs and he will be joining Bandit as early as this weekend, if possible.  Denise intends to call him Smokey!  Smokey and the Bandit!

So, today, Thursday, 9/16/09, I am thankful for Denise and her big heart.  I am also thankful for our animal family.  They warm our hearts, they fill us up, and they make life so much more wonderful!

Carpe Diem!