Jacob entered my life as an abandoned, days-old kitten on August 5, 1996. My sister called me at work that morning; she had received a phone call from her former co-workers. They had found a tiny kitten outside their office, and knowing my sister was owned by 4 cats, called her for help. My sister called me because I volunteer at an animal shelter, and we've worked with abandoned newborns before. Could we take this little kitten? Well, I called the shelter manager and arranged to pick up the baby and deliver it to her. So I took a long lunch, drove over 20 miles to pick the little guy up. Such a teeny little baby! His eyes were still shut and his umbilical cord was still attached! I then had to drive clear across town to drop him off. It was an extremely hot, muggy day, but I didn't want the little one to get chilled, so I turned off the car's A/C and rolled down the windows. Thought I would die of heatstroke! I delivered him to the shelter manager (who had experience with newborn kittens) and, to be honest, thought I'd never see him again. Was I wrong! He was given the name O'Brien (my last name) and I received frequent updates on how much he was growing and how cute he was. Just before Christmas, O'Brien was brought into the shelter, ready to be adopted. Wow, I just couldn't believe how beautiful he was! And so big, for only 4 months old! Of course, on New Year's Day 1997, I took him home & he became the 5th feline member of my family (with a new name of Jacob!). The picture above was taken at a cat show in Indianapolis in October 1997. Jacob is quite a ham! He has non-stop energy...his eyes are always wide open as if he is in a perpetual state of surprise. His hobbies are annoying his brothers Sammy & Noah and playing with water and strips of paper.