I FINALLY GOT HER BACK!!!
So when I was a kid this exact yellow/orange shorthair was one of my favorites. I took amazing care of her and my other shorthairs (which I decided were all sisters) and I had a huge cat family I would display and play with.
One day I went back to my lps, and I had them all BUT her. I have no clue what happened. She may have gotten lost but I'm more certain she was thrown away or donated without my knowledge.
Probably 15 years have passed since I saw my little friend. My original kitty had an "H" written on her foot with sharpie as did all of my childhood lps (I kinda regret that but oh well). Throughout these past years I have watched this kitties price raise online, more and more, and I kept telling myself that someday I have to get her back. I was never into the lps YouTube videos as I was kind of too old for them at the time so I was kind of devastated my kitty was so popular and costly. I was hoping the interest would die down over time but unfortunately it hasn't!
Last weekend though I visited a used toy store and when I spotted her I KNEW it was finally time to get her back. I had the guy check her foot in case she was mine from childhood (she's not but that's ok!). I ended up paying so much money for her but I'm so happy and grateful to have her back in my life. She's got a few scuffs and indents but she looks and feels exactly how I remember.
I'm going to make sure to treasure her and keep her somewhere extra safe now. Take care of your little friends!!!
Tl;dr, my original shorthair went missing 15 years ago. I purchased a new (to me) kitty last weekend for a lot of money, but I'm extremely happy to have her back!