A Southern Belle named Miss Sugar

Sugar was one of the pets AAR featured at the Gleannloch Farms adoption fair. I had recently donated a portrait to AAR and went to the event with my mother, just to say hello to the volunteers and to buy lunch in support of the Rescue.

Even though I protested, my mother (who I live with, along with several adopted cats) was smitten with Sugar. She was a pretty, petite, Tux cat with a sad look in her eyes. We learned that she was 11, and that her owner had passed away. We went home to talk about it. And decided to adopt Sugar.

The next day we went to AAR and talked to Mary, and Sugar. I was so impressed with the cat section of the building - a nice, bright room with an exercise area in the middle. All of the kitties were so well cared for, and loved by the volunteers.

Sugar came home with us; the plan was to put her in a bedroom by herself and gradually introduce the other cats. Tragedy struck two days later when my 7-year-old cat Lacey died suddenly from a blood clot. I was devastated, and honestly had no desire to pay any attention to Sugar. But while I was sitting in "her room" and crying, Sugar jumped up in my lap, put her paws on my chest and licked my face. I felt she was saying, "I know what it's like to lose someone you love." That's when this sad-faced little cat won my heart.

Sugar has become my studio cat, sitting on my drawing table while I paint. She likes to play "paws" under the door with the other cats, and goes on a gallop through the upstairs every evening. She has run of the house, but still prefers to sleep on her blankie that was made by an AAR volunteer. She 's lost a bit of that sad look in her eyes, and so have I -- thanks to Sugar.