Happy Birthday, Binabun!

Happy birthday, my beautiful Sabina,
the best cat that has ever lived!

Since you were two months old, except for the 6 months I studied in France and that horrible month in quarantine in New Zealand, you have always been with me. No other living thing has been with me this long.

You have quite the kitty passport! You've lived in 7 cities, 4 states, and 3 different countries. You've endured torturously-long plane rides, and, very begrudgingly, 4 different cat companions at one time or another. You've survived fleas from a dog, a cold from a cat, and impressively, the "black parasite" of Thailand which killed the two kittens with you. *sniff*

You're definitely tough! You killed my parakeet *wince* and scratched the shit out of a Doberman (who was then terrified of you for life) in Milwaukee. In Madison, you caught a bat in mid-air and then proceeded to kick the crap out of it. In Bangkok, you left the decapitated bodies of poor geckos on the carpet for me to find. In New York City, you destroyed the arm of Steve's couch. And in Montana, you seem to have resigned yourself to stalking and killing my black socks. Well, that's better than the habit in your younger years of knocking over trash cans and sticking your head into "empty" containers of yogurt.

Despite all this, all you truly want is to be a lap cat, with 24 hours of non-stop stroking (hey, I can't get enough stroking, either!). You are affectionate and sweet, a real lover, and I swear, it seemed like you never left my bed while I lay, alone in a foreign country, sick and suffering with Dengue Fever.

You still seem so young to me, I can hardly believe it's been this long. I hope you live 14 more years. I love you, Bina!