How I got Kitty Bear in the first place is an incredible story that illustrates how fate works in my life. You see, Kitty Bear and I were meant to be together from the start, and nothing, NOTHING, will ever stop the ways of destiny.
I was living in San Carlos, at Lake Murray Terrace Condominiums, with Ray. Some friends of ours in the complex, Kelly and Becky, had a cat who was expecting kittens. At that time, I REALLY wanted a little kitten, even though we weren't supposed to have one in our condo. So, I put in my "dibbies." Unfortunately, I had fourth dibbies, and Kelly and Becky's cat only had three kittens!
I remember the night the kittens were born. Kelly came over to tell me, and of course, I went right over to watch the birthing process. The little black and white cat was born shortly after midnight, on February 12th, in 1985.
Over the next six weeks, while the kittens were being weened, I was over at Kelly and Becky's constantly, playing with the cute little balls of fur. They grew so quickly, and as they did, I developed an attachment to the little black and white one. He was SO cute! I would hold all the kittens in my hands, and put them in a ball in the middle of the room. While the other two kittens tried to get their bearings, the little black and white one was off and running, exploring everywhere! He was a little adventuring kitten! I knew that this little cat was gonna have some spunk, and it really bummed me out that I only had fourth dibbies, and I wasn't going to get a kitten, much less the cute little black and white one.
The time came for the kittens to leave their mother, and two of the kittens went to one of the other condos in our complex, to a guy and girl who lived there. From the end of March to about the beginning of June, I would see the kittens playing over by the pool area near their new home. How I wished that the little black and white kitten would have been mine!
I think it was around the beginning of June when at last fate would smile in my favor. Ray and I, and some of our friends were all hanging around our condo (it was quite the "Heavy Metal Hangout" in those days!) We had all taken some mushrooms, (the "groovy" kind), and were enjoying an evening of "experiencing alternative reality." While everyone was tripping inside my house, I needed to wander outdoors. There's just something about shrooming that makes me feel closer to the natural world. I want to listen to the sounds in the trees, and the birds, and the wind. I want to walk in the moonlight and feel like a part of the intricate workings of the universe; and that's how it is, really.
So anyway, there I was, wandering around the condominium complex, when who should walk up to me, but Kelly. She had a kitten under each arm, and she said, "Donna, 'so' and 'so' are moving out and they're going to abandon these kittens! Do you want one?" And there, under one arm, was the little black and white kitten I had already fallen in love with!
With my mind all shroomy, and definitely feeling "one with the universe," I pointed at the little black and white cat, and in a slow, dreamy voice, I said "I want him!"
When she handed me the little black and white cat, I remember feeling ecstatic! I couldn't stop smiling, (some of that my have been due to the mushrooms, though) and as I held the little kitten close to me, I knew that this was certainly meant to be from the beginning.
It was really surreal, that night. I honestly feel that I was so in touch with the universe, and so happy and in-tune at that moment, that the universe decided to smile on me, and give me an incredible gift. I realize that some of you may be thinking, "Oh my goodness, hallucinogenic mushrooms!" But let me tell you, God put them here on Earth for a reason! In the olden days, in Europe, when horse riders had to travel miles and miles, day and night to deliver messages, they would take mushrooms to keep them going. They made the journey tolerable! And Lewis Carroll, a known mushroom-eater, wrote Alice in Wonderland under the influence of them.
Coincidentally, that has been my very favorite story since childhood!