Who's Bernice...?

We hope you'll forgive this small trip back to Bear Lake for a funny little story and new addition to our home....

When we arrived at the condo and we're running around checking it out and getting set up and noticed this sign on the wall. Shawn repeating the wording back to me asked 'who's bernice'.

Coming into the room, I asked him he was talking about. He pointed at the sign and repeated the message back ... do you see it? Neither did I, because the sign reads "Be Nice" not Bernice!! We laughed and didn't think much of it until Jennifer showed up with the kids and one of them repeated the question asking who was this Bernice character. Then when Brendan showed up and repeated the question - that sealed it and it was one of the running jokes of the trip.

So once we got back home we began settling in to the 'daily grind' of work, doctor appointments, etc. Then early in the week Shawn sent me a note letting me know that the Humane Society had for some reason been overrun in cats of all sizes and colors. So much so they were selling any cat (over a year in age) for $10.00 which included shots and neutering.

I know what you're thinking -- how many animals are they going to have, aren't they nearly a zoo now? But while we were getting ready to leave for Bear Lake we noticed Jacob was acting odd -- bad odd, not good odd. He wasn't eating much and drinking only a little bit more and sleeping more than normal. The day before we left we could tell he was disoriented and so we suspected what was coming. That morning as we were packing up, we noticed he was getting worse. Not wanting to leave him home to struggle more or worse yet leave him with our dear friends who had agreed to stop in, we decided to do the most humane thing and put him to sleep.

It was very hard - Jacob (and his brother Jasper) have been in our homes and lives for 19 years.

That's old even for cats. Jacob (and all of the animals in our home) live a pretty good and cushy life. But we love them very dearly. And when we were so desperately trying to have children and add to our family, they provided a lot of comfort. But it was the absolute right decision. And while we had both decided we wouldn't add another cat to our lives for a while (we've got another 19 year old cat still at home) we melted with the news from the Humane Society. I went online and picked out a few candidates and then headed down to the Humane Society to check them out human to cat. Most were pretty aloof (typical cat behavior). But I was greeted by this little cat who not only walked up to her, she stretched her self up to head butt me on the chin -- she totally knows how to work this system!!

I called Shawn at home (with the sounds in the background giving away my location) and told him to check out "our" new cat online. As I drove home I began to think of possible names (she came with the name "Boots", but that wasn't sticking. Thinking about Jacob and our trip, the name jumped into my brain ---- Bernice! Shawn loved the name too and she (Bernice) began responding too it the next day. Clearly, she was not fond of 'Boots' either.

She's a spunky cat (~2 years old) who'd playful and not too afraid of the dogs or Jasper. Why should she be, she still has her claws. Ellie, who wants to be friends with everyone is trying to be patient before he gives her a big lick on the face :-). Jasper's trying to keep his distance.
And she's fitting in nicely. She's great with kids and most patient with Cole - even when he's petting her extra hard. We think she might even be 'channeling' Jacob as we find her in sunning herself at the sign of any sun streaming in from windows or doors. But we're glad she found her way into our homes. Hopefully she's be just as much fun as Jacob been, she's certainly making great strides in that direction already.