Sunday, September 14, 2008

From 5 Feet to 0!

Oh. Hello everyone.

Mom said I could take over the blog writing today, and for good reason! I have stories!

So, guess what?! My Mom? She's not my real Mom! I KNOW! I was surprised too. I thought for sure she was like, the first and all. But no.

It turns out that not only did I have a cat-Mom, I also had a foster Mom! Well, I says, Gandalf, you are one lucky kitty then.

Do you know what a foster Mom is? Well, I'm gonna tell you anyway. She's a nice human who looks after you after you are born, until she finds your forever Mom. Cool, huh?

I'm lucky, I still get to see my foster Mom. She's my Mom's friend Raven. I call her Auntie Raven. Because I can.

Last week, Auntie Raven did something pretty cool. Like way cool!

Lookie for yourself!

(Photograph courtesy of Beau Monde Photography - http://www.beaumondephotography.ca/)

She has really, really long hair. About 5 feet! Can you imagine??

Well, Auntie Raven decided that this year she would make a huge donation - she decided to cut off ALL of her hair for charity.

You can read all about it here - http://sites.google.com/site/ravengoesbald/

And she did it! Last Friday, she had it all cut off! And she collected all kinds of money for the Terry Fox Foundation for cancer research, and my favourite charity, the Annex Cat Rescue. I really like the Annex Cat Rescue, because these are the nice people that rescued my other-other Mom (I know it's confusing, but stick with me).


That's my cat-Mom, the other-other Mom. Auntie Raven helped her when we were all being born. I think I'm number 2. I was known as Number 2 until I was named Aston (I know, it's bad enough I have all these Moms; now I confuse you with my names. Stick with me, humans.). See, I was born during the World Cup, and Raven and my foster Dad Simon thought we should all be named after some English Football (or soccer) Clubs. Then my Mom named me Gandalf because in the first picture she ever saw of me, she thought I looked more grey than black. But when she saw me for the first time, she said I looked like a Gandalf, and decided to call me that anyway.

Anyway. Look at me! Look how cute I became!


"Hi."


And this one too!


"Hello."


If it weren't for the kind people at the Annex Cat Rescue, I don't think I'd be here, people. My cat-Mom would have stayed on the cold streets of Toronto, and I probably wouldn't have survived very long. But, they really care for cats, so they rescued my cat-Mom, and me and my cat brothers and sisters.

And then when we were big enough, they found all of us new and loving forever homes!

Here I am meeting my new big brother Atticus!

He only looks tough, but he's really cool once you get to know him. It didn't take us long to become friends. See?



By the very next morning he was letting me eat out of the big kitty food bowl. My sister Mae, even though she loves me now, took a little longer to come around though. But not too long!

So. Wow! Can you believe it? Auntie Raven cut off all of her hair, to not only help humans with cancer, but to help all the kitties at the Annex Cat Rescue! Thanks to them, I have my Mom, who's the coolest, and my big brother Atticus and big sister Mae, who I really love. And I have a nice warm home, my Blankie of Invisibility, lots of toys, and good food. And I get treats! And I get to tease Big Guido the outdoor cat from the window, (hee hee, he got shaved! neener neener Guido's a baldie, Guido's a baldie...! whoops, sorry, got distracted) and he won't come after me and give me a whack or two! You know, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the Annex Cat Rescue and Auntie Raven.

That's why I'm so proud of my foster Mom. Not only did she help me live, but she's doing some really good stuff for other cats too!

And before you say - hey Gandalf! This is a knitting blog! Well. Um. Hey! My Mom knit Auntie Raven a beanie cap to wear! And she's going to knit another one too. But I don't have a picture of that. Next time, I'll have Mom post a picture of it.

Me happy.

OK. Bye!

15 comments:

Lorraine said...

Bridge- Wow, isn't that incredible? Raven is amazing.

Lynn said...

Ok Gandalf, what a great story!! Yes you are lucky to be loved by so many. and what a great thing your Aunt Raven did. However, I would love to see teh AFTER pic as well. do you think you can get one of your moms to post one?

Anonymous said...

Wow, your right Gandalf, that is waay coooool.

Chris said...

Aw, thanks for sharing that story, Gandalf! You really are a lucky kitty boy, aren't you??

Bridget said...

Gandalf, I really enjoyed your post, and learning about your life! Your Auntie Raven and your mom are as lucky to have you as you are to have them.

(P.S. I'd be careful making too much fun of anyone named Guido - he might know "people" if you get my drift ...)

Anonymous said...

Aw, Gandalf you have been blessed with a LOT of good moms. That is very cool of your Aunt Raven!

Also you were a darling kitty boy!

Nicole said...

Hey Gandalf, it's great to hear the story as told by you! Your Mom often neglects to tell us things like how great she is. I think it's that thing called modesty. :)

Shannon said...

Such a lucky cat. Do we get to see what Raven looks like afterward??

knitseashore said...

Gandalf,

Your Auntie Raven is amazing. What a wonderful thing to do for persons and their cats too. The photos of you as a kitten are definitely cute overload.

My blog is becoming the cat blog too lately, but it's all for a good cause, right? I hope the Annex Cat Rescue and your Auntie raise a ton of money and help a lot of people!

Rainy, Rosie and Tim send head butts to you, Mae, and Atticus.

miyamojo said...

Hi Gandalf!
You're a great story teller. Your Auntie Raven rocks! I can't believe she's bald now. Wonder if her head is cold and how much weight she lost. Black cats keep the evil away... so your Forever Mom is very lucky to have you around.

(am I the only one who has 8 yr old humor & thinks it's funny that his name was Number 2?)

Sonya said...

Gandalf, you are one lucky kitty! And your Aunt Raven is amazing!! I can't wait to see her "after" picture.

Angelika said...

Same here. Pictures please. That's a pretty amazing thing to do.

carolyninAlaska said...

What a great post Gandalf!
So, does Raven miss her hair? When I got all of mine cut off, (Only 3.5 feet though... not 5!) it felt strange for a really long time.
I wish that there had been good causes then to donate hair to... mine just went into the trash can.

Anonymous said...

That Gandalf is just as cute as cute can be.... I love them when they're kittens.

Traceyleezle said...

My goodness! Well, your Auntie Raven certainly is a wonderful human Gandalf.