One day, in late August or September of 2002, Allie and Barb went grocery shopping together at the Dorsey Search Giant near home. There was a girl outside the store with a sign saying “Free Kittens” and a box of said kittens there for the choosing. (I must say, I’ve shopped there hundreds of times and never seen anyone giving away kittens or puppies or anything else.) Allie and Barb were immediately smitten and by the time they finished shopping they put dibs on one of them, Allie picking the most playful one. Barb was leery of taking the kitten directly from the young girl and used the excuse that they had to check with me. She got the name and address of the girl, then Barb and Allie came home squealing about getting a new kitten. At that point, we’d had just Maxie for several years and it seemed like as good a time as any for a new one, so I quickly acquiesced. After all, there was no saying no.

The next day, Barb went to the girl’s house near the Giant while I took Allie to dance class. Barb wasn’t sure which one Allie had put dibs on so she chose again…there’s some dispute over whether she ended up with the same one, but in any case we had a new family member, which we had decided to name Emma. The girl’s mom was more than happy to get rid of the kittens and tried to get us to take the mother cat as well.

Barb took the kitten directly to the vet to get checked for health and fleas, where the vet informed her that Emma was a he. Barb called us (while we were driving back from picking up sandwiches at our favorite deli, Allie recalls) and said we’d have to come up with a boy’s name. That’s when Allie decided it should be Harry Potter. She and Barb had just started reading the J.K. Rowling books.

We welcomed Harry into his new home and introduced him to Maxie and some of Allie’s friends.

November 2002

More fun with Harry.

December 2002

Harry’s first snow

Christmas 2002

January 2003

Harry visits the vet and loses his innocence.

June 2003

October 2003

December 2003

Christmas photos.

January 2004

May 2004

Helping with Colonial Day.

October 2004

Harry helped with birthday celebrations for Emery and Allie.

Halloween celebrations.

November 2004

Allie did a school project based on the golden mean where she measured people’s feet and estimated their height and other measurements. On November 14 we tested it on Harry who was not especially cooperative.

December 2004

Christmastime

January 2005

February 2005

Hunkered down…

…and ready to roll.

A little walk in the snow with Allie and Paige on February 28.

March 2005

April 2005

Harry is not ready to move from Paddington.

August 2005

Welcome Buster!

September 2005

Buddies already!

October 2005

Maybe a little more than buddies already.

December 2005

April 2006

August 2006

October 2006

On October 2, Harry had no idea what was in store for him in a matter of days. I always liked this picture and made it my Facebook profile photo for years.

On October 8, we found George in the construction site next door. Harry took to him pretty quickly and by the end of the day he had a new little brother.

By October 22, George was well settled in.

Harry seemed to immediately get larger. But we loved him all the more.

October 25, getting used to each other.

November 2006

Harry and George, getting along just fine, are a contrast in size.

December 2006

Harry reluctantly poses with Allie for Christmas photos.

January 2007

Harry develops a close personal relationship with Georgie.

February 2007

Three boys on the bed. A first, and pretty much a last. Plus, Harry on a chair.

October 2007

Harry and Georgie were subjected to Halloween costumes, along with Allie and Melissa.

December 2007

Snow!!

Christmas!

October 2008

Still hanging in there, sort of.

December 2008

February 2009

Double-decker kitties!

May 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

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