Buddy and I were high school sweethearts. During our senior year Buddy signed in the Delayed Entry Program of the Army and asked me to marry him - of course being google eyed in love, i said yes! We then started to prepare for our future. In June he went to boot camp and we married December 22, 1978.
We traveled alot throughout the United States and Europe and made the best of what came our way!
We now have 3 wonderful children, Robert Scott, Brian Jeret and Roxanne Marie. Scott is currently a Sophmore at the University of Alabama, majoring in Chemical Engineering and Co-oping every other semester, so he is very busy but doing very well! Brian is a Senior in high school and is doing very well for himself also. He has signed into the Delayed Entry Program of the Marines for after he graduates! RoxAnne (as she wants to be called now that she's growing up) is in 6th grade also doing very well! (Boy time goes by FAST!) Roxi (opps), RoxAnne collects Ty Beanie Babies and turned out to be quite a trader! She does her own research and handles her own negotiations - quite an accomplishment for an 11 year old! Music is a big part of our lives also. The kids play musical instriments Scot - Trombone and Baratone; Brian - Trumpet and French Horn; and Roxi - French Horn. Buddy played the Tuba in school. I love all kinds of music including Blues, Jazz, Rock & Roll, Motown, Classical, and even County to name a few.
One day quite some time ago we went to visit my parents, and they had a couple of curly eared kitties that we fell in LOVE with! Everytime we would visit, we'd play with the kitties, and the desire to have one grew more intense! . . .quite a character with such inquisitive personalities and comical expressions! Finally one day we were surprised with a little red and white longhair kitten with 90º ears, and our journey began into the wonderful curly eared world of breeding the American Curl.
I set out to learn as much as we could about our wonderful breed. Way back then American Curls were not accepted in CFA Championship, so we used the TICA standard (sent to us by fellow Curl breeders) to work with. I took the standard apart! For instance, when the standard said, "HEAD: Small to medium head. No flat planes, moderately tapered. Longer than is wide."; First we would take out the dictionary and find out exactly what small and medium was defined, just as we did with moderately, flat, plane, and tapered even longer and wide. Having never shown animals in any competition, I felt as a breeder it was my responsibility to know everything that there was to know about the standard and why certain words were chosen for its description, what they meant and how they applied to the cat; Secondly, I put the cat on the table and read each line of the standard along with the definitions and determined if the cat had a small to medium head, or if it had no flat planes, was moderatly tapered, and longer than wide. This was a grueling task, one taking many, many years to actually understand and apply its principles.
As time progressed, I felt comfortable with what I produced as compared to the current standards. In 1993, CFA accepted the American Curl longhar and shorthair in Provisional Status. I showed one of our foundation boys RizaRaza Villancico of SouthernCurl, a nice brown classic tabby longhair and in 1994, I showed him to win his Championship title when CFA promoted the breed to Championship Status. We soaked up EVERY word spoken by judges in the show rings, as these were words of wisdom, and if they asked me questions, I would answer the best I knew according to my experience and research. During one show in 1995, the judge got out her standard and refelt my cats muzzle. Before the end of the show I asked her what it was that she was checking out. She said, "Your cat has a whisker break." I looked at her sincerely, and asked, "What is a whisker break?" She said, "You have been breeding all these years and showing your cats and you don't know what a whisker break is? Bring me your cat and I'll show you." I am very grateful for her help. It seems that every show I learn something new. Being new to cat breeding in addition to the Cat Fancy has brought lots of joy in addition to lots of pain.
Showing our cats reminded me so very much of being able to travel in the Army. A couple of times each month we would set out on a new journey traveling the land as well as show our beautiful kitties. Traveling is one thing that I thouroughly enjoy and could 'pick up tent' quickly to be on the road! :-)
GC SouthernCurl Royal Dooin's, Brown Classic Tabby and White, longhair American Curl, was fortunate enough to become CFA's 10th American Curl Grand Champion. I deeply appreciate everyone that supported his show career. When he was a kitten, he pranced on the judges table, and as he matured found the little girls and decided that he'd rather be with them than in the showhall. Still, in the showhalls I get asked about 'Kenny' and 'Reba' what we called him and his sister at home. Also during 1995, Kenny received the Second Best of Breed Longhair American Curl in CFA Southern Region. In 1997 Reba, SouthernCurl Pursooin' Perfection, is the mom to CFA's Second Best of Breed Longhair American Curl, GC Wimpl Fudge RippleCurl along with Best American Curl Longhair in the CFA Southern Region! We are very proud of Carol, Frank and of course Reba and Fudge!
MORE TO COME. . .NOT COMPLETE.
