CLAW

CLAW…. I remember stumbling on this great cat club in the year of 1999. I think I became a member in November of that year, or it might not have been until December. It might even have been October, but the year I am sure of. I had been looking for cat things. You wouldn't believe the things I found. I found a cat spokesperson (purrson, cat?) for a furniture store. He had appeared on all these different TV shows, David Letterman, Leno, etc. He was also the author of an advice column. I wrote to him asking how I could escape my captivity. Yes, back in those days, that was my main concern.

Then one day, my human, my Meowmie, told me about an online club called CLAW. I searched for it and found it. I applied. Soon I became a member. Oh, the joy! The exhilaration! There was so much to explore! The University, the guilds, the classes, the message boards, even a theater. I took part in as much of everything as was humanly, or felinely, possible. I learned about graphics and HTML. Before CLAW, I had no idea of the things that could be done. I also learned where to get programs like PSP to try before I would buy. I made new friends; some I am friends with today. CLAW was a godsend. Just as I was getting to know the club and get comfortable there, CLAW closed. I cried and even Meowmie cried with me. Everyone was upset, we formed a yahoo group to stay in touch and see what we could do to keep CLAW going. We weren't told why it was closing. Boy, the rumors!!!

Of course, now there are other clubs. One online club is several times larger, and well known *whispers Catster*.

But back in the late 90’s and turn of the century, or 2000, there were no other big cat clubs. I did learn of other small clubs through Claw, another blessing of Claw. One of these small clubs was the Back Fence Cat Club that co-sponsored the yearly Halloween Contest; it was adorable and though it was some time before I got to know the cat who ran it, Freya, and take part in the fun there, it wasn't Claw. Then again, Claw wasn't that club. Sadly, there are no cats left to run the BFCC now as Freya just crossed to the Bridge this August. May she start another club somewhere over the rainbow, or at least be in peace until we meet again.

On a lighter note, there is a related club, the Petsburgh club. It has many of the members of Claw, so we stay in touch there. There are also two Yahoo groups for furriends of Claw so the furship goes on.

Still the question was what was my favorite memory of Claw? Not easy....my favorite. I don't have one, but several and many things to be grateful for because of Claw.

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