What's a history?

Josephine likes for us to sing in the car. Mostly, she likes for me to sing songs in which she has some participation. One of her year-round favorites is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. She likes to join in on the Ho Ho Ho's, and also chime in at the end with "he'll go down in history."

This morning, she asked me to sing it to her, and as I finished she segued into a favorite game which grew out of the song. One day just after I finished singing, she asked me "what's a history?" and I told her that it's the story of what happened 'before'. She now likes to ask to hear specific histories: hers, mine, Madeleine's, Michael's, Bobo's, Snowboard's, and of course Abraham's. Abraham's history is a little hard for me to make it through right now as he died a few days ago. Josie remembers him well though and loved to feed him and pet him. Here's Abraham's history, as Josie likes to hear it.

Abraham Burglar Abate was born in the fall of 1993 in a warehouse in San Jose, California. A short time later, he moved to San Francisco where he met his friend Michael Abate. A year or so after that, Michael and Abraham moved in with their friend Laura and started moving around the country. Abraham lived in Washington, DC, North Carolina, and Washington, DC again, before finding his favorite home on Milford Avenue in Silver Spring, Maryland. After a few years on Milford, Abraham added Madeleine and Josephine to his family. As a young cat, Abraham loved to play fetch with Mardi Gras beads and to look out the window. As he grew older, Abraham loved to find a sunny spot on the floor and to sleep on the bed. Abraham, Hammy Cat to his friends, will be remembered for his sweet disposition, his beautiful black and white fur, and his green, green eyes.