Cats! (part 1)

Growing up, we had the perfect family cat. Her proper name was Missy Mew. She let children pull on her tail without retaliating back. Loved to sit and be pet for hours. Brought home many carcuses uneaten, so we could give her many "good kitty" pettings. Later, leaving the few undesirable remains for us to discard of properly. She lived a long and happy life.
Now I am a homeowner, with my own family. Trying to decide on our own family pet situation. Maybe part of me feels like I have had the ideal pet, none of which can compare, so lets just leave well enough alone. But children whine and beg until parents decide they are old enough to have a pet.
Our first attempt at a pet or pets were actually twin sister cats. They came from a barn family and being that my husband is a twin, my heart was immediately softened towards them. We took them home. The children were thrilled. We would need to come up with the perfect names for them. We would sleep on it and in the morning our family would be complete. Come morning names were tossed about and the excitement was rising until..... I looked out near our mailbox. An item was suspiciously laying at its base. Cat number one, dead as a doormat. First one, not so smart. I decided let's not name cat number two and just call it "Cat". Isn't there some additional trauma if it has a name and then dies unexpectantly?
Anyways, Cat proved to be smarter than her sister but meaner. She was not nice to the kids and did her own thing. Paying very little attention to us unless it was feeding time. After a few years of this coexistent living it was time for us to move to a larger, more exciting home. That very week Cat bit one of my kids and scratched the other. Her time had come. I decided fate would have to choose her outcome. The kids and I piled into the van with Cat and we drove up the road. Come on, it was only like one or two miles. I opened the door and out shot Cat. I figured dogs can find their way home hundreds of miles away so if it was meant to be, Cat would return. The kids watched the departure. I explained that biting and scratching was not appropriate but if Cat came back we would welcome her home. (Could this be why my kids never scratched or bit for fear of being dropped off? Hmmmmm.) Needless to say cat number two was just as not smart as her sister and she did not return to us. She was an animal and returned to her native surroundings in the wild. Happy and free just like me.