Our Mascot, Ozzie

     I was born outside, but when I first opened my big, beautiful eyes, I was in a place  called a "shelter". My mom, sister, and I were in some kind of a box and I could only see out one side. I heard one of the humans call it a "cage". It was small but my mom was comfortable in it. She stayed way back away from the people and took care of us.

     My sister wasn't very strong and one night she died. After that my mom was extra protective of me. The people taking care of us named my mom Harriet, and me they called Ozzie (from some old TV show, they said). The people liked to pet me and tried to get me to play but mom was afraid of them and she didn't like them around our little home. But one day mom got sick. The people took me out of the cage and forced my mom into a different kind of a box. She screamed and cried out to me to "be brave". I cried when they took her away. She never came back. I missed her so much. But the people knew that I was lonely and frightened. They held me and loved me. I admit, my cage home was bigger with only me in it. And I got  out to play every day. Then one day something changed. There was a lot of confusion at the shelter. All the cats were being moved around.  A "doctor" looked at us and gave us shots and took our pictures and then put each of us into little boxes. I remembered my mom's last day and I was very scared. But when they opened the door for me a little while later, I was in a big room with a lot of other cats that I knew. Nobody was in a cage. And we could walk around  and play wherever we wanted to. This is my home now. And guess what?? For some reason the special people who take care of us named me their mascot! How about that??