by Rowena Mills
Photos courtesy of Sherry Bonner
“I have never been a cat person. Crybaby is my first cat,” says Sherry Bonner, owner of the Pink Lily and Red’s Mercantile in downtown Jenks. “I am a dog person. I have always had dogs, but my sister Tammie convinced me that I would love having a shop cat.”
It turns out that Bonner’s sister was right — Bonner absolutely bonded with Crybaby. The kitty lives at Bonner’s shop the Pink Lily, 108 South First Street, and goes back and forth to Bonner’s other shop, Red’s Mercantile, 102 South First Street.
And Crybaby, who started out as a stray, is now grown up and beautiful and takes her job as double shopkeeper very seriously.
Finding a Home
It all started on August 12, 2017, when Bonner saw a stray mother cat with three kittens beside the railroad track behind the Pink Lily.
“The mom left and came back, and we put food and water out,” Bonner recalls. “Over the next week, we worked on making them feel safe. We saw the mother come and go, and we continued to put food out. They all ate the food as soon as we got out of sight.”
Then two of the kittens followed their mother into the storm drain, and none of them came back — but one little gray tabby kitten stayed behind.
“I am hoping that the mom and the other kittens found a good home,” Bonner says. “Crybaby kept on coming up to our door, so we brought her in three weeks after we had first seen her.”
It was best to let Crybaby live at the Pink Lily, Bonner adds, because her dogs at home probably wouldn’t be happy about having a feline housemate.
Finding a Career
Bonner opened the Pink Lily on August 14, 2010, and Red’s Mercantile on November 28, 2017. The stores have “an eclectic mix of past and present,” Bonner says, “vintage, French furniture, quilts, chandeliers, home décor, and refurbished furniture.”
Crybaby is very much at home with it all, Bonner explains, and never disturbs any of the items in the shops.
“She likes to sleep on nice comfy soft items. She will sleep on the desk when I am working in the office. She is always at the front door waiting for me to get to the shop, then immediately goes to the kitchen for breakfast. She prefers eating lunch with us and will sit in her own chair or scoot us over and share ours,” Bonner says.
“She likes to roam through both stores. When the door chimes, she will always greet our customers (unless she is asleep). She is very social, and most customers know her by name. She has great customer service.”
Not all customers are human. The stores are pet friendly and have had dog and bird visitors.
“Crybaby lets most pet guests know that this is her home. She is very observant and watches them all,” Bonner says.
Students from Jenks High School stop by to visit Crybaby.
“She has weekly visitors and is very popular on social media,” Bonner explains.
Crybaby is also the photogenic subject of numerous snapshots and the object of much love and attention from her doting owner — as the two of them happily share their shopkeeping role at the Pink Lily and Red’s Mercantile.
