Let’s take a quick pause in my story to address a very important topic---my name. Now I know what you’re thinking, Van Diesel, what a cool name for a cat.  Yes, I agree, it totally suits me.  But…I wasn’t always Van Diesel.  Let me tell you how this legend got his name.

When Andrea and I first met, she tried to figure out if I was a boy kitty or a girl kitty.  Then Sandee weighed in with her “expert” opinion, she thinks she’s always right. She did a quick google search and proclaimed me a girl kitty.  Oh Sandee.  

So there I was, rolling my eyes, as Andrea went through pages and pages of girl cat names.  “Angel, Buttons, Chloe, Daisy…” ---I can’t believe this is happening. After hours of this debate with my paw over my face, Sandee said, “She looks vanilla colored, so let’s name her Nilla, short for Vanilla ”.

For 6 stinkin’ days, I had to hear “Nilla! Nilla, come get your milk.  Nilla, here girl.” How embarrassing. 

Finally, they took me to the doctor to get a checkup and shots.  “Could this get any worse?” I thought. An identity crisis AND a doctor visit.  But, just five minutes into that visit, the doctor defended my masculinity as he set the record straight…(laughing) “This is a boy kitty!”, he said.  Andrea and Sandee just looked at each other.  Ooops, guess Sandee got that one wrong.  Way to go Sandee.  After a few seconds, the girls looked at each other and said, “We’re going to need a new name”.  

After my checkup, we returned home and Andrea told Tom the news.  Immediately he started calling me “Van”.  Andrea said to Tom, “Stop calling my cat Van, why are you calling him that?” Tom replied, “It’s the masculine part of Vanilla…Van-Nilla”.  Andrea rolled her eyes; she was not ok with this name.  I thought, “Oh here we go again, she’s going to get the list of cat names back out”.   Then, moments later, she uttered it… “Van Diesel”, she said… “Because he’s fast and reckless”. 

I will say, I had my doubts that she would come through with a cool name after the “Nilla” catastrophe, but the first time I heard “Van Diesel”, I knew it was for me. 

These days Andrea often calls me Van or Vanny for short, but deep in my heart I AM Diesel, Van Diesel.

Chapter 3:  Before I Was Van Diesel

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