What’s in a name? I was walking with my daughter today and she was talking about a neighbour’s dog from Thunder Bay, he was a Sheltie and they called him Maverick. The definition of the word Maverick is an unorthodox person or independent minded person. She pondered whether they had the name for the dog before they met him or whether his personality dictated such a name. I have been guilty of having a name in mind, before I have gone looking for a new family member. One Christmas I had been talking about surprising my girls with a kitten. Our Vet had a litter of kittens from the Humane Society that were staying at the practice in hopes to adopt them out to families. I had decided in my mind that I wanted a girl, and I would name her Holly or Ivy, to fit the season. I walked over to the Vet’s practice to have a look at the new kittens, only to find out that all the females were adopted and the boys had interested families. The girl at the front asked me if I would be willing to consider their Mom, she was about a year old, had just been spayed and she said she was a total sweetheart. I was tossing the idea around in my head, I thought the children would have been more enthused to receive a tiny little kitten, but I decided how could it hurt to take a look. As the receptionist was about to leave she said, “We have named her, but you are welcome to change it if you like.” I asked, “What did you call her?” As the young woman walked back into the room, with the most gorgeous black and white Manx, she said “We called her Holly.” I just about jumped up and down I was so excited, as far as I was concerned, this was a sign that she was meant to be our cat! She put Holly into my arms and I said “Hello Momma, you are coming home with me!”
No Time To Paws 