We lost our beloved Cadenza about 11 years ago- the saddest day of my life and I vowed NEVER to go through “that” again. We were petless and the house felt empty. Fast forward, ….Our youngest granddaughter, Rachel, volunteered at the Humane Society some 4 years later and invited my husband and me to visit her and see her at work… She worked with the kittens, she told us. (You may guess the end of this story- but read on). We agreed to visit and vowed NEVER to bring home another cat. Upon walking into the lobby there was a newly arrived box with a litter of 5 kittens, 4-months-old, all from same mother. Two of them were cuddled literally together and fast asleep. The others were either sleeping solo or exploring their big box in the lobby, waiting in the process to be admitted. The person at the desk noticed us talking with them and asked if we wanted to hold any of the kittens. KNOWING we would not bring one home, we agreed and my husband and I held the two that had seemed so attached. We melted immediately. There was no doubt they would go home with us ASAP .

Our family greeted them on this joyous occasion, and the little girl was immediately named Aria by our oldest granddaughter. It was very appropriate as we found out, for her warm and gentle personality and her beautiful meow. The little boy was more difficult to name. His personality was opposite that of Aria and it was hard to figure out what to call him. We are a family of musicians and all our cats have had musical names, so that limited our choice to some extent… but nothing really “fit”… until… one day this nameless little ball of fur roamed over to our piano and put his front paws on the keyboard to check it out (as he does with everything). We have a Steinway grand piano in our house, and in that moment I said, “He just chose his own name.” Steinway is a virtuoso kitty- curious about everything and loves to be with us and with his sister. I found that my heart could expand and grieve our loss of Cadenza, who gave us pleasure for so many years and would be happy to know we are now parents to other kitties that are keeping us company; different than he was, but loving and playful and bring joy to our lives. Thank you HSHV for making this possible.

Steinway (male – black and white) and Aria (female – mostly white with some dark markings)