Okay all, I just have to say it, it's Nina's first birthday!  My little
summer-solstice cat, who was a premie kitten delivered by C-section and
weighed three ounces at her birth, came into the world one year ago, today.
=o) When I went to pick up Francesca  and the kitten the next day, her
entire little body fit into the palm of my hand,  and her little tail looked
like a fuzzy piece of string, about one inch long. Alas, her two littermates
were born dead. =o( It was sad, since my Mom could have adopted them, as she
paid for the C-section.  I just fell too deeply in love with Nina to part
with her. =o) (I'll just say, my mother has a complicated, busy life, and I
think she might have resented the complications to her travel plans that
having kittens would have represented.) Thanks to Francesca's strong
maternal instinct, and her devoted care, Nina has grown up to rule my
household with a benevolent iron paw.

And.... I realize, I forgot to acknowledge Francesca's first anniversary of
Adoption Day last month. She came home to live with me on May 20th, 2004.
Without my having ANY idea that I had just fallen in love with a pregnant
teenager with a pretty, striped face, until 30 days later. =o)

Melissa