Furry Friend

"Can I get a white kitten?" Jacob asked in the hospital this summer as he opened up another card showcasing a white kitten on the front.

When your son is laying the a hospital bed for 40 days you'll say anything to make him happy. I figured that he may forget about his request when he returned home to a more normal life.

The requests didn't stop once home. In fact, they picked up and he talked almost daily about this white kitten that he would get. We searched the local shelter pages looking to see if we could spot his white kitten. We visited the mall adoption center and peeked at the Humane Society but there was no white kitten to be found.

Who knew it was so hard to locate a pure white kitten?!

Last week we stopped at PetSmart and happened to wander over to the cat adoption center. Immediately Jacob was attracted to a kitten in the top cubical. His finger touched the glass and the kitten touched his paw to the glass. Jacob moved his finger and the kitten's paw followed. Yes, I know, most kittens will play with fingers or any moving object but this is the first kitten that Jacob saw that he wanted. He was adamant about the fact that this kitten was the one. After taking out the kitten to play with he wanted to take it home. I told him he should play with some other kittens just to be sure so we played with four other ones, but his attention wained and he desperately just wanted the other kitten back. The kitten which seemed a bit hyper. The kitten which was found in the engine of a truck, which probably meant what a curious little fellow he was.

The black kitten. Which is the total opposite of a white kitten.

The connection they had was clear. I signed the adoption papers and we brought our new little friend home.

Skippyjon Jones is what Jacob named him (from one of his favorite books...Skippy for short). Skippyjon Jones can keep up with the kid's energy but is also a sweet cuddle bug. Skippyjon Jones chooses Jacob's bed every single night to sleep on; I find them both curled up together when I check on them at night.

Sometimes we get what we want, other times we get what we need. Sometimes we get both.