Schmizel's 10 yr Birthday

It's been one tough month, and so last week it was time to do something light which ended up being a small celebration for Schimzel's 10th Birthday!  I can still remember the morning back in 2003 when I woke up to witness my first cat birth! Schmizel's mother was a stray cat that I had taken in one weekend when Patrick was gone out of town on work. 

It wasn't long while rubbing her belly that I figured out she was in fact pregnant!  I guess she was looking for someone to take care of her during her pregnancy.  We ended up moving to a different apartment and brought her with us.  One March  morning, she had Schmizel along with 4 other brothers (all boys).  Schmizel was the only long haired black and white. All the other kitties were short haired tabby.

Schmizel was the last to be born.  His mother always waved her tail this certain way when she came up to me for attention.  Schmizel does the say tail wave....exactly. :)

Over the years, Schmizel has been with me through countless holidays, birthday, moving into my first house, the death of my mother, nursing school, CRNA school, jobs, and over 10 yrs of marriage.  I am certain my heart will break one day when he dies, but hopefully we have many more years of purring and cat tail waving. :)