By By Janet Little Cooper
Judging by the number of Christmas events that have taken place in Atmore and the surrounding area in the last 20 days, I would find it hard to find someone who has yet been touched by the Christmas spirit.
Whether it has been by watching floats in the Christmas parade or listening to Christmas carols in your churches cantatas, we have been blessed with an abundance of festive activities in recognition of the Christmas season.
I have worked every weekend except one since coming back in November from my knee surgery and the reason has been to cover all of the holiday events going on. Even with me working every weekend, we still have not been able to cover them all.
This past weekend was no different from the others as I went to the Atmore Animal Shelter for a fundraising event they were having in conjunction with Spayed with Heart, a non-profit organization implemented to help the shelter and its furry friends.
And as most everything I have covered this month it was centered on a Christmas theme. Pet owners were able to bring their pets to the shelter to have a picture taken with Santa. If you have ever tried to get an animal to pose for a picture and get the perfect shot, then you can sympathize with the shelter staff and myself as we tried to do so.
This particular assignment turned out to be a little more than I bargained for however and I apparently got overcome by the spirit of Christmas.
My nine year old made the trip with me. As I was busy taking pictures and conducting interviews, he was busy checking out each and every animal in the shelter.
He lingered at the two different litters of puppies and eventually ended up with the cats. He has an inherited love of cats from his mother. He loves dogs too and has a black lab named Daisy, but likes the idea of being able to have a pet indoors with him.
As you may have already guessed, Bryant happened to find the one and only kitten in the group and of course it was love at first sight. I was taken by her as well.
It didn't take long for Bryant to ask me if we could adopt her. My immediate response was "No!" due to the fact that we already have two cats.
As I continued to work however, Bryant made continual trips back to see the kitten. Seeing him interact with her and the smile on his face finally did it for me. The plan was to adopt the kitten and have the shelter hold her until Christmas Eve when I would then put her in a box and surprise him.
Of course that plan fell through when Bryant walked in while I was filling out the paperwork, therefore meaning we were now bringing home a new kitten to add to our zoo.
We have had "Junior" a beautiful longhaired black and white cat for five years now and shortly after my knee surgery my mom gave us a wild kitten that came up in her yard. We named her "Sassy." She looks as if she could be "Junior's" kitten with the exception of short hair.
Thankfully, the adopted kitten, which has been named and renamed several times, is a wonderful pet. She is only eight-weeks old and is loving and playful and hasn't even scaled my Christmas tree as of yet.
The other cats are adjusting to the new addition as well as can be expected. There is just a lot hissing and clawing going on and I am not talking about my boys either!
I have already had to field comments from people about me turning into the 'old cat lady' now since I am divorced.
I try not to think about that or dwell on it for fear that it may come true. I met a young girl at the shelter who also adopted a cat Saturday. She made me feel a little bit better when she told me that she already had 10 cats at home.Just like age and weight though, it's cute when your little, but becomes a problem when you get older!
Let's just say that someone else will have to cover the next event at the shelter for me for fear or adding to my crew.
Janet Little Cooper is editor of the Atmore Advance. She can be reached at 368-2123.