from nay-sayer to full-blown cat lady

4 years ago today, we brought home this magnificent creature and my life has been changed forevermore.

Growing up, we weren’t really a pet family. In fact, I was quite sure I disliked cats, owing to a few unfortunate incidents. And truth be told, I thought pet people were kinda crazy. Thousands of dollars for pet surgeries. Dealing with pet hair everywhere. Poop. The amount of agony and grief they seemed to go though upon the pet’s passing. Weird.

So imagine my surprise, when at 40 years old, I discovered I’m a cat lady. Full blown. Totally into cats. And not just my cat. All the cats. Show me a picture of a cat, any cat, and I’ll show you a woman zooming in and commenting effusively on all the cat’s features.

And it all started with this cat. This sweet, snuggly, mercurial creature. Fiona. Miss thing. Boopsie. Boops McGoops. Fiona the grey. Her majesty.

Though my husband is her preferred human (much to my dismay), she and I have our morning ritual. I get my coffee and my book, sit down in the couch and she hops onto my lap. We snug. Sometimes it’s 15 minutes. Sometimes it’s 3 hours. But it never gets old. Hearing her purr. Watching her breathe. Feeling her weight sink into me.

When my mom died 3 years ago and I was inconsolable, and it hurt to be around people, any people, she was my solace.

And she’s one of my greatest teachers. This girl knows how to chill. She’s a champion napper. A lover of stillness and quiet and calm. An absolute queen of doing nothing.

And though we now have a second cat, and if it were up to me we’d have even more, she’s the one who made a a cat mom and a crazy cat lady forevermore.