Last Sunday morning Patrick called me to say he was on his way to the San Gabriel Animal Shelter to adopt a cat that he and Veronica saw there on Saturday. Later he called to say he had a cute little grey long-haired tabby running around his car! He was on his way home with this feisty little guy.

After he arrived home, he called to ask me to come over and meet the kitty. I asked him if he had picked a name yet, and he said he was thinking of naming him Jake. My friend Mata has a cat named Jake, so that just didn’t seem to work real well for me and I told Patrick this. He agreed and said he would think about it and come up with something else.

I went back to my room, got dressed and, on my way out to the kitchen, the phrase “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” came into my head. I pondered whether Jack would be a good name. I said to myself that I shouldn’t even consider names since this was Patrick’s cat and he should choose the name.

I arrived at Patrick’s and Veronica’s place about 15 min later and was greeted at the door by Patrick holding this adorable little guy. As I cuddled him, Patrick said that his name was Jack. I replied that I already knew this and told Patrick what had happened earlier. He said they decided on the name 15 min before I arrived…at the same time that I was considering the same name!