Sasha

I went to MEOW on March 27, 1999, to check out a cat I’d seen on the website, and he was a nice enough cat. But then I started showing Janine, who was on duty that day, photos of Ashbury, my previous cat, who was a gray tabby Maine Coon. Janine said, “If you like Maine Coons, you’ve got to see what we have in the other room.” She brought out a 7-month-old Maine Coon named Edwin. MEOW had gotten him only a few days earlier, so he wasn’t up on the website. She handed him to me, and he started nuzzling up to me and purring at once. After about a minute, I said, “Would you like to come home with me? I think that could be arranged.”As we were about to head out, Janine said, “Edwin, there’s your new daddy!” I renamed him Sasha. A Russian emigre friend had confirmed for me that Sasha could be a male name. 

Sasha grew up to be a beauty, 15 lb at his peak, and very loving. He lit up my life for almost 17 years. He crossed the Rainbow Bridge peacefully at home, with some help from my veterinarian, on December 29, 2015.

-Andrew