Seasons Greetings Max supporters,

I am a huge music fan. In fact, I have over 5000 mp3s on my computer. I have everything from Metallica to Mozart, Aerosmith to ABBA, John Denver to Jay-Z. Because I listen to so much music, I tend to think of people in terms of songs, regardless of associating that song and that person to a particular event. In other words, I don’t have to have a particular memory attached to a song for song to remind me of someone. For example, when I hear Sophie B. Hawkins’ “As I
Lay Me Down”, I think of Bellis. It’s a soft,
sweet and dainty song, kind of like Bellis. “No Rain”, by Blind Melon, totally reminds me of Tashi. I can just see
him dressed as a bumble bee, doing his Tashi-walk out in the
meadow with the rest of the bee-clad people. (Honestly, I giggle just picturing Tashi in a yellow tutu happily “dancing” among the group.)

When it comes to Max, however, I hear more of a sad country song. You know the type: the singer’s dog ran away, his girlfriend left him for his best friend, and his pickup truck broke down. Due to a severe allergy to country music, I don’t have a specific song in mind, but it’s been that kind of month for the Max-man.

Country song event number one: new roommates.
Shortly after last month’s update, most of the Dessert Kids moved into one of the main suites, leaving Max to his days with Cypress and Cupcake. Soon,
however, Cupcake
and her sister Twinkie found their forever home with a wonderful adopter. Now if it were up to Max, he would live happily with Cypress, as Max is not too fond of his four-legged roommates, and Cypress isn’t too fond of anything except her cat-cave. Alas, the fates had other plans. Enter Bellis and Trey. In
order to acclimate Max to his new roommates, the powers that be have him insulated in his own cage. The cage afforded Max the sense of security that he craved while allowing the other cats to get used to Max and vice versa. This plan actually worked very well, as, when I returned a week later to visit the Max-man, he was living among the other cats in his room. He’s still not entirely happy about the situation, but he is giving it the old college try. Which brings me to…

Country song event number two: too many people.

Max’s ideal forever home, apparently, will be a household with no cats, and one or two people. When there are too many people around, Max goes into full panic mode. Last week I came in to visit Max, and he was not in the room. Earlier in the day, there had been some visitors who came in, and Jonathan thought it best
to keep Max in the apartment until the visitors left. A staff member brought him into the room so I could visit with him, but within minutes, three more people came into the room to visit with Cypress and Bellis. I saw that Max was getting agitated, so I left and sat in the lobby. Unfortunately, Max did not like all of the attention. I could hear his loud meows from where I sat, and the staff had to enter the room to calm him down and, eventually, move him back to the apartment.

See? I told you his month has been like a sad country song. Unfortunately, I have not gotten to the worst part…

Country song event number three: the loss of a dear friend.
You may remember in last month’s
update I wrote about Max’s therapy cat named Mozart. Max and
Mozart spent their days in the apartment, so Max could learn first to tolerate then to bond with other cats. It is because of Mozart that Max is spending his days in Adoption Room 2. After Max made his move, Mozart took residence in the lobby. Seeing
as how Mozart was a senior citizen cat, he was not in the best of health, and he began deteriorating in late November. The staff remembered how happy Mozart
was when he lived with Max, so, when it became evident that Mozart was not going to be around much longer, they moved him back in with Max. Mozart
died the night before Thanksgiving, surrounded by staff who loved him. For several days after Mozart’s passing, Max seemed genuinely melancholy but is doing better.

There are several ways to see Max’s country song month as a positive, however. First, bad things supposedly only happen in threes. Therefore, Max got his three bad things out of the way in one month. Secondly, because this month was so bad, things will only get better. I am confident that 2010 will be a great year. Who knows? Perhaps 2010 will be the year Max finds his forever home. Despite the adversity of the last month, Max has persevered
and still chats me up like we’re long lost friends
every time I see him. I can’t help it; I love the nervous guy. Hopefully, by next month, Max will have traded in his cowboy boots and his forlorn tune for a
more upbeat ditty.

I wish you all the happiest of holiday seasons, and a safe and healthy 2010 to you and your loved ones. Thank you for your continued support
of the Max-man, and I look forward to sharing more (and happier) updates of our sweet boy. Happy New Year!