35 years ago, when husband and I had been married 3 or 4 days I saw an ad in the little AF paper advertising FREE KITTENS so I called and asked if they had a yellow tom --- I wanted nothing except a yellow tom cat. The woman answering said they had anything because they had 3 litters to get rid ...er ... find good homes for.

I took off for her house and the minute I got out of my car a teeny little grey kitten flew down the driveway, attached herself to my leg and climbed up to my face. I gently disengaged her and put her back on the pavement.

Within seconds she was climbing back up my leg. I gently put the little gray rat back on the ground and took one more step toward the desirable yellow tom. She climbed again and I tried again. I never made it. By the time I got to the top of the driveway - to the garage where the three litters were waiting, I had badly snagged pants and shirt but I was in love.

That was Grace, our first cat. Oh, how we loved Grace.