Sunday, January 11, 2009

Show & Tell #24

I thought I would share some photos of another family member. Our cat, Gabrielle (Gabby for short).

Some of the first pictures of Gabrielle. We got her from a shelter in New Hampshire. We were actually at a gaming convention, and one of our friends volunteers at the shelter. The Sunday of the convention, about the time we were getting ready to head home to Massachusetts, Michael and I went to the shelter to look for a cat.




Her name comes from Xena the Television Show. Gabrielle was Xena's sidekick.



Thinking back on when I bought her, I remember there were subtle thoughts that I kept to myself. We bought her when were in the midst of the worst part of our struggle with Secondary Infertility. We had not started IVF or adoption processes yet. But we knew something was wrong. I remember thinking that, at the very least, if I could not give my son a sibling I could give him a companion.





Since then, things have changed. Gabby has gotten fatter. She has become part of the family.



She is a very social cat. She loves to be where people are. She loves to be petted. She will find the room with the most people and sleep there. She is protective. She is curious. And she is loved.



And she has accepted, albeit wearily, the new addition to our house. This picture is her trying out Willow's crib before Willow was born. Now Gabrielle likes to sleep in the abandoned bassinet in our room (we still keep it cuz it converts to a changing table). At night Gabrielle sleeps there beside us--another life that has added so much to our family.




Show and Tell

8 comments:

Sam said...

what fab photos and a lovely story!! She didn't seem to mind being pulled about by your son did she?! I bet she learns to stay clear of the baby when it starts to pull her tail - just curiousity!!

Baby Smiling In Back Seat said...

Wow, I thought she was small and dainty until I saw her true scale with Michael! She has beautiful fur.

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential said...

What a beauty, she looks so sweet. Thanks for sharing your 4 legged love today!

Liv said...

I love that your cat is so social and likes to be where the people are. Very uncharacteristic cat behavior - that's great! Thank you for sharing!

Kristin said...

What a sweet kitty and a wonderful story.

Rachel said...

So nice to find another mom who doesn't buy into that whole 'the cat will smother the baby' crap.
Gabby is beautiful.
I've had my 4 cats for years, so they are well versed in avoiding little hands...funny thing is that they don't seem to mind being mauled occasionally.
Thanks for the touching story...and thanks even more for saving a shelter cat. I LOVE THAT!!!

Queenie. . . said...

She's beautiful. It's amazing how much weight they put on when you bring them home from the shelter!

AnotherDreamer said...

What a beautiful, large, kitty! Your son seems so dwarfed with her in his arms!

Nice story and pics :)

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