A child's pet

After moving from Long Island and settling in Florida, my parent’s finally decided on whether or not to get me a pet for my birthday. I was turning seven that year and never really had a pet of my own. It was nearing Thanksgiving vacation and I could hardly wait! I was full of anticipation and kept begging for it sooner and sooner. One day I came home from school and my mom brought me out on the screened-in porch. In the corner of my eye, I spotted a frisky little fur ball, terrorizing the other cat. I walked over and picked him up. His fur was soft as silk, with little white patches of fur covering his paws. My mom told me he was a Maine Coon cat and around 8-9 weeks old. He followed me all over the house like he was my shadow. I had to decide on his name so he wouldn’t be just known as “the cat”. After going through dozens of weird names, I finally decided on calling him Mittens. It fit him perfectly, since he had all white paws.
Throughout t...