Greetings All!

My name is Dan, and I’ve just become the correspondent for Ana, or to be formal – Anastasia.

Let us be informal because Ana’s an informal lil’ one as it is, as can be seen by her demeanor and lack of formal-wear. As a matter of fact, she rarely accessorizes and doesn’t know her salad from her dessert fork. She knows even less about wearing basic black.

I first met Ana a few weeks ago, and it was about 3 weeks ago I became her correspondent.

Of course, I was briefed on her likes and dislikes initially and on her status and medical condition. She was, as advised, a little shy at first. She’d approach me, make a quick survey, turn, then proceed to survey her food dish for a sample.

This quickly became a routine, along the lines of every 2 minutes…

Approach, inspect, retreat, snack, and repeat.

Approach, inspect, retreat, snack, and repeat.

Approach, inspect, retreat, snack, and repeat.

After a short time she broke her routine, adding, “Yea, you might consider a pat on this here forehead of mine you know. It’s not as though I’m that forward. What’s a girl gotta do to get your attention’”

Thus – approach, pat pat, retreat, snack, and repeat.

The snack was still a priority, of course, although my affections were indeed worthy of a return – to the tune of every minute or so.

We could have continued the routine, although I suspect Ana would have eventually become dizzy in the circle of food-dish, turn, me, turn, food-dish.

…and repeat.

Hence I saw the favored hair brush of the suite and began grooming our fair Ana. Mind you, she didn’t actually need brushing. She’s casual, but still vain. She’s quick to groom herself. But she does love it when someone else takes up the task on her behalf.

After a few minutes, Ana was again ready for another snack, a quick lap of fresh water, then she was off to her rather cozy and soft pedestal for a nap. Or, to pose for any possible onlookers from beyond the window.

A nap is more like it, I should think.

End of the first visit.

Since then I’ve been to see her a couple more times. The second visit was not unlike the first, though her suite-mates were becoming all the more curious as to the fella that was dropping by.

The third visit revealed something new, or even better – more familiar. Ana seemed to look forward more-so to seeing me than previously, competing with the others for attention.

Instinct told me (I’ve had cats for over 40 years), to simply pick her up and hold her, something I’d been advised she’s not too keen on. Not so. Ana was enthusiastic to be picked up, at least by me.

Thus, bottom line – it’s very well possible Ana has gotten to know me in the short time since we met.

One intriguing thing is her similarity to my own Blossom Dearie here at home. The personalties differ, of course, but physically the resemblance is incredible.

Tabby’s Place has tried weaning her off the antacid, but the symptoms flared again. Ana continues to take the antacid and the other medication which improve the motility in her gastrointestinal tract.

I’ll be dropping by to see her again come Monday. She may be expecting flowers though I suspect she’d prefer…

…snacks.