Photographic Memory #10 - Critters

We've always had pets in my family. When we lived on Center Ave we had dogs and cats - Carbon, Shadow, Penny. I don't have many pictures of them and, honestly, I don't remember them too much.

When we moved across town to 7th Street, I had a hamster. Her name was Brownie and I loved her fiercely. She was a master Houdini at escaping from her cage. She ended up in the furnace vents once. Through what has to be purely luck, my mom managed to find her and get her out before she crawled her way to a firey death. She lived a long time for a hamster and when she died I was devastated. So much so that I recorded the date of her death - November 9, 1992 - on the back of this photo.



I got a replacement hamster who I (completely innocently) named BJ - as in Brownie Junior. But, Brownie Junior she was not. I soon put a classified ad in the paper and, as fate would have it, ended up giving her to Jess, who soon became my best friend. If I recall correctly, BJ met a not-so-pleasant end in Jess' basement...

At some point we got two rabbits. They were twin brothers and the only way we could tell them apart was to put nail polish on one rabbit's ear. (Yes, I only see one rabbit in this picture too. The other one was probably behind the slide.)



Their names were Midnight and Bunnicula. Both names are pretty self-explanatory. I don't remember what ended up happening with them. I think we gave them away...

Somewhere along the line we got another cat - Candy. She was very mellow. An older cat, she was good for cuddling.



She would spend some nights in my bed with me which I allowed until she started peeing in it. Then I had to close my room at night.

My sister also got a cat who I spoke about previously.



Then there was Mandy. When my parents got divorced and my mom moved into the upstairs of the store she adopted a dog. When we got her, "Mandy" was "Martha" but we decided one of us had better be renamed. The dog won that toss.



Not the smartest of animals, she was a sweetheart. Pretty much untrainable, she provided companionship and a semblance of protection. She never liked men much - we figure she had been abused by a former owner. But she sure liked me. She'd lick whatever part she could reach, loved cuddling at the top of the stairs. She really hated baths, but she'd always fall for my "let's go on the deck and play" bit. When my mom and sister moved out east, Mandy didn't go along. We'll leave it at that. Further elaboration makes me want to cry.

I was pet free until we started our revolving door of rodents. And now we've got four feline friends. I can't imagine a life without some kind of animal companion. As annoying and time-consuming as they can be, at the end of the day it's nice to have someone keep your head warm all night.