| (1985 - 1988) |
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Working at a gas station near the highway, Randy never expected to find a cat in the engine of a car. The lady thought she had heard something and pulled over to ask for assistance. There huddled on top the engine was a tiny black cat. Randy immediately claimed it as his own. Washing her off, he discovered a lilac Siamese kitten under the grime. Tasha now brought our family count up to five (2 humans + 2 dogs + 1 cat). |
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| Leaving my hometown, Randy and I moved to Ohio so that we could find a pet store and get the financial backing of his father (who owns several Dairy Queens in Ohio). Driving through the West Virginia mountains with all of our belongings in a U-Haul truck was quite an experience. While Apple and Muffin rode in the cab with us, Tasha was forced to ride in a padded crate in the back, since I was afraid she might escape each time we stopped for gas or food. Needless to say, she wasn't happy being alone back there; but at each stop, we did take her out and give her plenty of attention. Everyone survived the trip north to Cleveland and the eventual move to Canton, where we bought a pet store ("It's Reigning Pets", hence the name for my domain in this electronic age, "ReigningPages"). |
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| Unfortunately, we had a serious accident in our pet store in which we lost Tasha. The bulk containers of flea dip we had purchased for our dog grooming services were not properly labeled. After grooming all of our own animals, Tashsa became violently ill. The Durisban chemical in the dip is quickly absorbed in the fat cells of cats poisoning them. Needless to say, we learned a valuable lesson from our grief, and switched to all natural products in our store. |
