We would go for walks in the apartment complex, and sometimes pass a beautiful, long-haired cat, adorned with a bright blue collar that matched his sapphire-colored eyes.
Weeks later, I spied a furry creature in the bushes and thought it was a dog, maybe a Lhasa Apso. But it was the beautiful cat. Only he no longer looked lovely; his fur was matted and even falling out in places.
It didn’t take long before he followed Kasey and me upstairs into my apartment! I wasn’t sure what to do with him, so I took him to the vet. I was told he had ringworm, but other than that, he was in okay condition.
I think the staff at the clinic was hoping I would let one of them have him, but by then, I knew we were meant to be together. After all, Kasey, who had been an “only pet” all her life, had already warmed up to him.
I determined that the cat was a Ragdoll and figured he had simply been abandoned by his previous owner. Basically dumped. Don’t even get me started on the type of people who do that to animals, let alone their own pets.
I decided he needed a great-sounding name and named him Bailey, after a favorite baseball player from decades ago. One day, I was driving along the freeway and saw an exit for Griggs Road. That’s when I christened this beautiful creature Bailey Griggs.