My little boy, Chester P. Arlington, is five today!*

Chester was a rescue- before he came home with us he had been dumped and severely abused. To this day, even when he begs for pets and cuddles, he still will subconsciously duck his head out of fear of being hit or kicked before instantly raising it again to nudge us for more love.

He’s terrified of most people, and only allows a handful of people he’s known for a while to see him. But with Tom and I, he’s one of THE most affectionate, personable, loving, and PRESENT cats we have ever had. He’s demanding and silly and playful and LOUD. He follows me around all day and night, and sleeps on the foot of the bed, never far from me. He even sits outside with me while I swim (it’s inside a screened in lanai- no worries!) and waits for me to finish.

I love you, Chester. I hope you know how much happiness you have brought to my life.

*Actually, we don’t know if it’s actually his birthday, but when we adopted him the vet “assigned” him 4th of July as his date of birth.

The day we brought him home, he was trapped, neutered, and up for adoption in the span of 8 hours. The rescue knew nothing about him- they assumed that he was a fully grow adult cat when he was actually a VERY large six month old kitten.

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Also, Happy Fourth of July!!

I have to admit, I was never much of a “patriot” until I watched John Adams a few weeks ago. I highly recommend watching it, even if you’re burned out on politics or not into American history.

It’s an amazing, engrossing mini-series. (I actually went into a bit of withdrawal when it was over, and wish HBO would do more of them on different presidents…)