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I take you on a journey....

Chapter 1 - My childhood

Even as a child, I was accompanied by animals. There were cats, dogs and we had rabbits. Or should I say I had rabbits? I even had guinea pigs, which I tried in vain to train because they only occasionally ran in the direction I wanted them to and only when there was something tasty to eat.....
Back then, as a child, I was accompanied by one cat in particular among all the kittens and cats we had! She was really special. Slightly longer hair, robust, could defend herself and assert herself. She was an excellent hunter and was always there where I was. She was my silent companion. If I went outside, I called for her and she came. It was as simple as that. In the morning when I had to go to school, she would accompany me through the forest, the meadows, down the narrow little footpath to the village. At lunchtime when I arrived, at the last house on the edge of the village, there was an old stable. It was only rarely used and from there it was uphill. She was there! Waiting, coming from somewhere. We walked home together. That's how it was and that's how it is, my first memory of a Norwegian Forest Cat - Zinofia. She was a tiger cat with lots of white. Today, breeders would say: black tabby with white.

The two of us survived many adventures. Even when your life was hanging by a silken thread. When they wanted to let you go and I fiercely resisted. Back then I begged you to stay, just stay with me. And she did! Her bullet wounds healed and she continued to thrive while I grew up and slowly fledged....
I moved out, away from the mountains into a slightly bigger, wider world. When I left, Zinofia left too. People said she never came back and we never saw her again. But you live on in my memories, like all the others. You wandered round the houses with me, discovered the sunrises and sunsets and are still by my side today. Silent, quiet as a shadow...
We turn time forwards a little... 14/15 years forwards.

There was a small family. A man, a woman and a baby. We were all still so small. First welded together and had to overcome many ups and downs. It was a time of finding our bearings, where would we go as a small, young family? I married into a family business that wasn't just characterised and influenced by relatives. You had to be someone to belong and, of course, you couldn't come from a modest background like me. I was a child of the mountains, from a large family with modest circumstances. What did I already know? What the weather would be like the next day. Because we had learnt to pay attention to it. But I didn't know how to study financial books. The * rather big city boy and the mountain girl*. It has lasted to this day.😊 But back then it wasn't approved of because people thought we were too different. But there was a child and even when all the ropes seemed to be breaking, we rolled up our sleeves and pulled together. A promise: If we say A, we also say B. At some point, somewhere during this time, another cat appeared in my life. I can't quite remember why. Nor do I know which of us, Andreas or I, wanted this one cat. It was just that, as with our Husky girls, if one of us had a thought, a wish, a moment, then we went after it. Both of us.

And this is how it all began.....
There were little red kittens and in the middle of the pack a little cat with red spots in her dark dress. I couldn't imagine getting her. The price was too high. Because the red boys were cheaper. But as I mentioned, we were both pulling in the same direction. While I, as a simple mountain girl, had to budget the fiver well, the city boy didn't particularly care whether one kitten was more expensive than all the others and so a Norwegian Forest Cat moved in with us. Tortoiseshell nonagouti and tuxedo wearer.

Dorothea from Chestnut Forest.

It turned out that this one girl carried Smoke and nobody knew exactly why. Her pedigree showed no parents with silver. At her first show, a breeder recognised her lines in Dorothea. Among other things, this one breeding moulded a breed that had not yet been born....
And next time, this journey continues...

Sincerely
Yours
A-Riverway

Translation Deepl