Wordy Wednesday

... or "How We Became a Happy Sandwich"

We promised to tell you how we became PB&J, so here it is (or at least how Mommy always tells us):

Long, long ago in a state called California, Daddy promised Mommy that he would get her a kitten for Valentines Day. So they went down to the shelter and picked out a cute little Torbie (she was actually the only kitten, but she stole Mommy's heart cause she looked just like her old cat). The kitten came home with them to live on the boat (yep, they used to live on a boat way back when) - the only problem was that they couldn't come up with a name for her. She was playful, determined, crazy, brave (she'd stand up to anyone coming down the dock) and a good swimmer (she went in once when she mis-judged her jump). They tried on a variety of names, but finally decided to name her Purdy - after the dog Perdita in One Hundred and One Dalmatians - she was brave and beautiful too.

A few years later Daddy's friend had a cat that had kittens on Mother's Day, so he decided that they should adopt one, to keep Purdy company. So one day in July Daddy brought Mommy a little Tuxedo cat. He was much easier to name (plus they had been thinking about names) - since he was so distinguished and manly and smart they named him Basil, after the main character in Great Mouse Detective.

That's when Mommy and Daddy realized that they had some rules about naming kitties - the kitty's name should always come from a Disney movie, and it should always be a non-cat.

They all lived on as a happy family of four, until one day after work Mommy found a wee baby kitten barely old enough to walk. Daddy said, take it right to the SPCA, but it was a Saturday and they were closed, so Mommy had to bring him home. He spent the first day in the bathroom and Mommy called all her friends to see if they wanted a kitten. Within two days, he had found his forever home with Mommy and Daddy.

But he needed a name! They thought and thought about possibilities, but didn't like any of them. One day Mommy said to Daddy "Since peanut butter and jelly is your favorite sandwich, why don't we name the kitten something with a J - then we'll have PB&J?!". Daddy thought that was funny so they started checking for J names that were from Disney and boys names. Finally they came upon Jake, the seagull from the Rescuers Down Under.

That was when PB&J became more than just a sandwich!

Many years rolled on and the family moved to Michigan, not long after that Purdy went over the bridge. It seemed only fitting that she be honored with another "P" kitty, so Mommy researched all the local shelters on PetFinder and found a nice lady with a Tortie that needed a home. So Mommy and Daddy went off to collect her on a snowy morning in January. They had two names picked out, one was Penny and the other was Pearl. Mommy thought Penny would be the best name since she had little copper spots, but they realized that she was such a treasure that she should be named Pearl. Now there are two Pearls in Disney, one is the octopus in Finding Nemo the other is the ship in Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl. They originally planned that she was named after the octopus - but realizing what a little treasure/terrorist they had on their hands, the realized that "Curse of the Black Pearl" was more appropriate!

Not a week after Pearl came home, Basil went over the Bridge - Mommy always says that it's cause he missed Purdy so much (she was his favorite toy ever!). Mommy and Daddy were very sad to loose two kitties so close together, but they really wanted to make sure they always had a P, a B and a J - so after a couple of months the nice lady from the shelter called and she had two tuxedo boys that needed homes. Off Mommy and Daddy went to go pick out our new B kitty, they took their friends daughter to help pick. Once they got there Mommy knew right away which kitten would be Bert - he was mostly black, so he looked like a chimney sweep, just like Bert in Mary Poppins.

So that's how we got to be, and stay PB&J!

- Jake