MRFRS 2024 Fur Ball Mascot – Harris

 I remember the day I met Harris so well. I was at the MRFRS shelter to help take some photographs for that year's upcoming Fur Ball event. I was there with our auctioneer Frank Bertolino and Randy Price from WCVB. Randy was holding this adorable orange cat and I kept thinking about how much my husband Howard loved orange cats.

So the very next day I went back and adopted Harris for my husband. They became immediate best friends - just as I had predicted. Howard would sit in the reclining chair I lovingly called his “throne” and Harris would start by snuggling at Howard’s feet for a while, and then he would move up into his lap and snuggle there for a while longer. And later at bedtime, well Harris came there too. Harris was so attached to my husband it was a wonderful thing to watch.

Humans always love their animals - but there was something about the bond between these two that was more than I could have wished for either one of them. Last year my Howard passed away after over 40 years of being married. He was an exceptional person and I was blessed to be married to him. The fact that Harris still sits in that chair means he knew how exceptional Howard was too. I am thrilled to have Harris as the Fur Ball mascot this year. Not only because he is the cat that brought so much joy to my husband - but to honor the legacy of my wonderful husband who brought so much joy to our family, and to this amazing cat!