Bert was with us from 1982 to 1986 in Fairfax and Fairlington.


Bert came to us as a kitten in late 1982 when we lived in the townhouse in Fairfax. He got off to a good start as a kitten, though our various kitten tortures may have had a long-term effect.

Pumpkin time, Halloween 1982.

Visiting the Fishers and Bourbie in late 1982.

Christmas portraits, 1982.

Going for a walk and a climb in front of Fairfax townhouse, spring 1983.

In 1983 we moved to a new home in Fairlington Village, Arlington. Walt joined the party in 1984.

By 1985 we were a committed two-kitty family.

Christmas 1985: Bert is not pleased with his new deely bobbers, but Bourbie is!

One set of troubles we could never solve in the Fairlington townhouse was getting Bert to use his box in the basement. Instead, he would pee on the carpet at the bottom of the steps. We tried all sorts of things to dissuade him, to no avail.

Eventually, we decided that Bert needed to find another home. I came up with the clever idea of taking Bert to Florida to live with Sue and her kids. She agreed and we made a long road trip with Bert over several days, down to Marathon in the Keys. We stayed a few days and helped Bert acclimate. He seemed to be doing well and it was time for us to head back north. Within a few days we got a call from Sue that Bert was missing. There was another possible sighting or two over the next couple of weeks, but then no more. We like to think he found a nice retirement home, but suspect he more likely became gator bait (not really…there are no gators in the Keys).

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