Mike Ventrella
Paragon
Some of you old timers who visited us in the Brooklyn basement may remember Valleri. She was just a kitten when John Finnegan brought her to us, and she'd sit in the tavern and eat donuts (real donuts, not the player kind).
I still remember when we first got her; the Ashbury game was just starting, and the "evil" Baron Morgan Blackbourne opened the door to the tavern. Everyone grew quiet as he was very imposing. (Jon Stein was about 6 1/2 feet tall or so!) He glared around the room at everyone and then saw the little kitten on a table. Suddenly, he leaned over, eyebrows raised, and said, in a very high voice, "ooohhhh look at the cute little kitten! Oobie boobie boobie (baby talk)..." Everyone's eyes met as they tried not to laugh...
Valleri was always very friendly and was a part of the family here, but she had many problems as she grew old -- she had been hit by a car around 1999 or so and was completely blind in one eye from that, with a missing tail and a dislocated hip. But she carried on. However, in the last 9 months or so, she developed a thyroid problem and had lost a lot of weight. She was ony 5 pounds today when we took her to the vet. We had tried everything we could, but she was constantly vomiting and couldn't (and wouldn't) eat...
Anyway, enough od the details. I know most of you have gone through a loss like this, but I thought I would post this here because some of you may remember her.
So here's to Valleri.
I still remember when we first got her; the Ashbury game was just starting, and the "evil" Baron Morgan Blackbourne opened the door to the tavern. Everyone grew quiet as he was very imposing. (Jon Stein was about 6 1/2 feet tall or so!) He glared around the room at everyone and then saw the little kitten on a table. Suddenly, he leaned over, eyebrows raised, and said, in a very high voice, "ooohhhh look at the cute little kitten! Oobie boobie boobie (baby talk)..." Everyone's eyes met as they tried not to laugh...
Valleri was always very friendly and was a part of the family here, but she had many problems as she grew old -- she had been hit by a car around 1999 or so and was completely blind in one eye from that, with a missing tail and a dislocated hip. But she carried on. However, in the last 9 months or so, she developed a thyroid problem and had lost a lot of weight. She was ony 5 pounds today when we took her to the vet. We had tried everything we could, but she was constantly vomiting and couldn't (and wouldn't) eat...
Anyway, enough od the details. I know most of you have gone through a loss like this, but I thought I would post this here because some of you may remember her.
So here's to Valleri.
