Around the time that we moved, we acquired an official pet. We weren’t intending to add a creature to our family, but he was in need of a new home, so we took him in. I guess you can say we adopted him.
Before I show you a picture, let me give a short backstory. Four years ago, when Mr. Handsome and I were still dating, his youngest sister, Lena, received a pet for her 11th birthday. Thinking he was a she, Lena named the pet Catherine the Great because his tail looked like the onion domes on Russian buildings.
Lena was excited about Catherine the Great (Catie G. for short) for a little while, but then the novelty wore off, and the poor thing just sat there on a counter in the corner of my in-laws’ kitchen, receiving very little attention. They tried to feed him, but he rarely ate anything. My mother-in-law claims that Lena had begged her for this pet, but Lena claims that she had wanted a furry pet.
One winter, Catie G. escaped from his cage and survived for two months in my in-laws’ home before someone found him sunbathing on a windowsill and returned him to his habitat. A year later, a gal who works at a pet store looked closely at Catie G’s feet and informed us that they had been chewed on, probably while he was loose. Yikes!
Well, Mr. Handsome, who always made a point of cleaning the cage whenever we visited, took pity on poor Catie G. While we were staying at my in-laws’ house for a friend’s wedding this summer, Mr. Handsome asked what I thought about taking Catie G. home with us. My husband has always had a thing for little creatures. (Someday, I’ll have to tell you about the various “pets” he had as a child.)
My first thought was to say no, but when I thought about the sad life that poor Catie G. was currently living, I decided to approve the adoption. At the end of the weekend, we loaded the little thing and his cage into our car, alongside our luggage, and headed home.
Three months later, and Ralph the leopard gecko has found his way into our hearts. (We nixed his feminine name when we found out that he was a he.) It has taken him a while to settle in, but he is doing very well. He eats and drinks more in a week than he used to in an entire month. Here’s that picture I promised. I think he’s kind of cute, which is proof that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Do y’all have any pets?