Brynden

This is my lovable cat Brynden.
I adopted him from the Humane Society in December of 2002, and he was about 2 years old then, which means he's about six years old now. He has always been a very loving, sweet, docile kitty.
I remember the day I went to the Humane Society, ready to adopt a second cat. I wanted one that was either all-white or all-black. They had one white kitten, but she did NOT look healthy at all. There were three black cats of varying sizes. (Kinda like "Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Baby Bear"). The bottom cage had this giant (GIANT!) black cat. I tried petting him and picking him up, but he didn't really seem to like being picked up, so I moved on to the middle cage. As soon as I opened the door, the cat LEAPED out, landed on my left shoulder, curled up, and started purring.
"Awwwwww," I thought. "This is the one." It felt like the cat picked ME, instead of the other way around.
So that's the one I adopted. I named him "Brynden," after a character in George R. R. Martin's "Ice and Fire" series. The character is "Brynden The Blackfish," and his niece's nickname is "Cat." Voila!!
He had a cold, and needed to go to the vet, 'cause he kept sneezing and hocking up these big ol' gobs of snot. Not a pretty picture, especially when the aforementioned gobs landed on my carpet or sofa or bedspread.
When I first adopted him, Honeynut was not crazy about the idea. She did NOT want to share "her" home or "her" human with any other creature. So she spent a lot of time hissing and growling.
Sometimes she went so far as to smack him right across the face with her paw.
But he never responded with aggression. He always seemed to remain optimistic that if he would just keep being nice, she'd eventually like him. He always "turned the other cheek," so to speak, letting her hiss and growl all she wanted.
Well, she never really did learn to LIKE him, but she does tolerate him a lot better these days. Once in a great while I see them doing that "nuzzling" thing cats do when they're saying hello. And once in a VERY great while, she'll actually let him groom her and lick her face. So yay for progress.
(Of course, now, Honeynut has chosen to center her hate-vibes on my 3rd cat, Doyle. I'll post pictures of him later...)
But that's the story of Brynden. :)