Entrant's Name
Diane McCormick

Your Pet's Story or Bio
Bonnet and her 3 siblings were born under my house on Easter Sunday. Bonnet (Bonny) was the last one revealed to me by her mom Cricket, a very sweet feral kitten who was only about 7 months old herself. I wrote 2 poems about Bonny & her mom.

Bonny made it clear, once I brought her inside at 6 weeks' old, that she wanted to stay with me. Every morning she was at the baby gate I set up to separate Cricket's 4 kittens from the rest of the house.

Bonny lived with me for 13 years before cancer took her. She was the closest soul I ever had who was like a daughter to me. Because I still miss her sometimes, I have her photo on my computer screen and that's the photo I've sent to you. I am a writer and published poet. This poem I wrote for Bonnet, who was the most beautiful kitten I'd ever seen. As beautiful as an Easter bonnet:

Bonny - How We Became Family

You were born free, outside,
of a sweet feral mom,
barely a kitten herself - Cricket,
who ate crickets that winter
to barely survive
before she found my home
and safety beneath it,
along with the food I gave her
plus backyard crickets
that would keep her content and alive.

I fell for your mom
and her feral ways.
She was young and nervous at first,
a beautiful, silky black cat
with white toes on three feet
who came to trust me,
then as now.
And, as they say, the rest is history.

Your mom gave birth to four splendid kits -
two girls and two boys, of which
only one made clear
where she wanted to be.

Each morning at the baby gate in the hall
you were waiting there for me
as soon as I arose from sleep.
Were you saying to me "I am yours to keep"?

I guess so, since 12 years gone, we're still together,
loving each other soon after that first Easter morn
when you were born and we became family.


Thank you, PHS, for allowing us in these troubled times to share our wonderful experiences with our pets. ~ Diane