She never usually sat on dad’s lap, but this time she did. Such a loving little tortoise shell cat. I didn’t know then that this sort of fur colouration is mainly female…. I may be wrong. We had another cat too but I dint remember him well, I left home a few years later, and I missed them so much.

Of course when I stayed in student accommodation we weren’t allowed pets, but a year later we took in an old straggly cat that someone was going to have put to sleep. And after that I’ve always had cats… 11 in total… My friends.