Submitted by mom Nicole

This is a story about my cat Rowan and Christmas trees.

Rowan was a feral cat rescued by the Stanford Cat Network. At five months old, he was caught and neutered and re-released but he was so traumatized by the experience that he failed to care for himself and had to be re-caught. He ended up in the front of my mom’s vet waiting for someone to adopt him. He was terrified and shy; he tried to hide in his cat bed but he was too big so only his front half fit. His chest hairs were in dreadlocks from drooling. My mom called me and told me to come get him. I think she knew he was my cat.

It took a long time for Rowan to come out from under the bed and an even longer time for him to want attention or affection. So long, I worried he would stay like that forever and I would just have a cat that didn’t like people very much. But he just needed a lot of time and patience to unlock his heart.

Turns out, Rowan is very, very sweet. He is still very shy of people but he loves other kitties and dogs and I doubt I’ll ever have such a special one-on-one relationship with another cat.

Rowan loves many things the way I imagine a baby or a toddler would. This is most true of Christmas trees. He loves pumpkins and jack-o’-laterns too but he most especially loves Christmas trees. The first time he saw one it was like a child on Christmas morning, see all the packages. He was totally mesmerized. He slept under it all night, calling out to me because he wanted me to come sleep with him so he could sleep with both of us. His first Christmas at my parents’ house he was still very shy and my family was shocked to see him sitting under the tree.

You can tell that he loves the tree most at night when all the house lights are off and just the tree lights are on. That is when you will catch him staring into the tree amorously, thinking, “I love you magical inside sparkles tree”.

I wish I could have a tree up year-round for him. But then maybe it wouldn’t be so special. I feel like he knows when the pumpkins show up that tree-time is right around the corner.

Rowan makes everything better, but especially Christmas!

Thanks everyone for your votes!