I found my best friend in Wisconsin while on a camping trip 12 years ago. We saw this adorable 6 week old kitten playing in a parking lot of a restaurant.

I recently lost my own cat to cancer just 3 months earlier. I told my husband that if we come back tomorrow and he his still there, I would take him back to Chicago.

The restaurant owner said that those cats belong to the horse stable where they have kittens every spring and sometimes they die in the cold winter. We came back the next day and the kitten wasn’t there.

We ate and left the restaurant and to my absolute pleasure, the kitten was sitting right by the passenger door of the truck.

We were in Auburn County Wisconsin, so I named my new baby, Auburn or Aubie. He was a hand full. I had always adopted adult cats, so this was my first kitten. He climbed the walls, slept in the dirt of my potted plants, jumped in the air to play ball, fetched and was all around mischievous.

He is 12 years old now and has slowed down a bit. He is one of the best things that ever happened to me. We kind of grew up together. He is my baby boy cat.

male cat named Auburn