Mom is prone to adopting animals in need of homes (as you can probably tell). So when a friend who’s moving out of her ranch needed a place for her barn kitties, Mom brought home two of them, and set them up in style.

Mom has been missing her daily quota of cat interaction since we left the barn where we used to board our horses, so she was really looking forward to some feline love. Ironically, Whisper, the grey male, immediately took to Dad. They are BFFs.

Dad’s first language was German. This is not particularly obvious, but there are some legendary stories about his occasional slight misunderstandings of the English language. For example, he and Mom were once strolling around their college campus in the summer. Knowing Mom had a particular fondness for a flower, Dad pointed them out to her, “Oh honey, look at the panties. Such beautiful panties.” Mom was mystified, until she noticed that he was looking at the PANSIES.

When I spoke to Dad on the phone about his new friend, he repeatedly referred to him as “Whiskers”, which is close enough to Whisper to be adorable.

Love you Dad!