A tribute to Andra Lilly and Ann Baker
When summer came,
my mom, Andra Lilly, would take me to visit Ann Baker and her
amazing cats. For $1.00 Ann Baker would take us on a tour and
talk about her beautiful and floppy cats. She even
let us stay for as long as we liked. I still remember
walking in to her den/living room and seeing an ocean of
Ragdolls. They were calm, laying on their backs or stretched
out with all fours spread like a bear rug. In the early years,
Ann let us hold her cats. But, that had to change as she had
more and more visitors. My Mom and I were fortunate to see
Daddy Warbucks. He was breath taking. I don't think I've
ever seen a cat since than that was so large. Although,
we couldn't afford this unique cat in the late 60's. I somehow
knew the time would come they'd play a major part in my life.
The older Ann got her stories became more eccentric as to how these
cats came to be. The last time I toured her cattery around
1993 she didn't recognize my mom or myself. The story she
wove at that time was that the cats were actually from
aliens. Her entry fee for the tour jumped to $5.00. Not
as many visitors of years past. No matter what anyone thinks
of Ann Baker I could still see the love she had for these large,
loving, blue-eyed beauties and hear the love in her voice as she
gave us our final tour. Those of us that share our lives
with Ragdolls will forever be grateful to Ann Baker. Had my
wonderful mom not taken me every summer to see these cats I would
have truly missed out on a home filled with love from my
Ragdolls. So, I'm forever grateful to my mom
too.
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