Sasha has been with us over 17 years. My son Tom was skiing at Powderhorn in Upper Michigan, and he found her alone at the ski hill. Probably someone left her there hoping she would "find a home." Thinking about that still makes me angry and sad. You know what I mean.
When Tom carried in this ball of gray fluff in his ski gloves, my response was "Tom, we have a dog. Why are you bringing home a kitty?" You see, Gracie, our beagle just wanted to chase cats.

I couldn't imagine her getting alone with a cat. A moment later Tom put her in my hands, and all of you know the rest. She became my baby.

Actually, it turned out that Gracie and Sasha were both a little afraid of the other. In a few days though, they were friends and became great buddies. Gracie, our beagle even taught her to greet us at the door. We would come home, and both of them would be standing side by side.

For a week or two, we called her Smokey, but then at the library, I saw a photo of a Russian Blue in a cat book, and we changed her name to Sasha. She has been our dear girl and friend for quite a while.