Hailey was the last kitten out of a litter of 7. I had always wanted a solid grey cat and was on my way to pick up one after class one evening. When I arrived though I was told the grey one was already taken. I was saddened. Then I looked over and there sat this lonely little black & white kitten with the cutest crooked white stripe going down the middle of her nose. Her imperfect stripe and the fact she immediately reminded me of my dad and his crooked nose made me even more saddened that nobody else wanted her. Why did nobody else want her? I couldn’t leave her, I sympathized with her too much… being alone or the “last” one that is. I scooped her up and knew she’d be an important part of my life; she was after all going to the first pet I had on my own.
Eight years later I still love giving her cat nip and watching her roll around in it, she can get pretty funny if you give her enough. She also has a pretty awesome trick where she jumps from the ground onto my shoulder when she wants some loving...Over the years though she has gotten progressively further and further away from my shoulder, but at least she hasn't given up yet! She’ll sit on my shoulder with her head wrapped around the back of my neck, purring so loud it’s almost massage like. The funniest thing is she acts more like a dog than my dog. She likes to sit out on the patio when the weather is nice and sun bathe, she knocks on the door with her paw when she wants in and….meows when she needs to be fed. She’s the chillest, coolest cat I could ever ask for. I will probably never own another cat after her because I’m growing increasingly allergic to her hair and dander but I wouldn’t trade her for the world. She’s been with me on all my moves, through all my boyfriends, and all my ups & downs. Shortly before I first met Hailey I started feeling depressed about myself & life. If it wasn’t for this cat I’ve grown so fond of and who has seemed to always know when I needed a good purr or a warm soul next to me to pet, who knows which direction my life may have taken.
And then there is Armani. His name is so very fitting; everyone that knows him and is reading this entry is currently shaking their head in agreement. After moving into my first house and calling it quits with my boyfriend of several years I decided I wanted a dog. Presumably the dog would help me get out and meet other people, perhaps on a walk we’d run into a hot guy who was walking his dog and then we’d chat it up a little…then end the conversation with a “so when do you usually walk your dog type of thing” and then we’d run into each other again….and again and eventually we’d end up falling in love and walking our dogs together… ok, so now you can see I’m a hopeless romantic or better yet that in the grand scheme of things I wasn’t really thinking about the dog per se, rather where the dog would get me. Well that has changed. I was actively looking to adopt a dog and I had my eye on a Boston terrier at a rescue site. I went through the whole process, hours of filling out the application and talking on the phone only to be REJECTED because I was a single female who travelled from time to time...ANYWAY that’s another soap box, so after all that I had slightly given up on the fact that I was going to “do good” by owning a dog. After hanging out with the ex on several occasions and trying to re-kindle our diluted relationship, he decided to purchase me a dog upon which I fell in love with at our first meeting. To this day I think it was a way for my ex to get back with me but like I’ve said before, "he actually replaced himself!" That’s right - a friend suggested I go see this Italian Greyhound her friends ex-husband needed to “get rid” of, which by the way I’d never heard of this breed before and had no idea that when I met him I’d fall in love with the slightly awkward hairless, rat looking, long legged little thing – but I did! And so came the time when the ex- wandered on and left behind Armani who ended up being purchased for me as a “birthday gift”, the best birthday gift ever!
Armani was named by me as a tribute to his Italian heritage, his sleek sophisticated silver & white coat and the fact that he act’s like a freaking Prince. He’s a sweet, sweet dog whom likes to sleep A LOT and is comparative to that of Velcro. He follows me around everywhere, acts as a divider between me and anybody else on the couch or in the bed (my mom calls him “good” birth control) and needs to be touched or needs to be touching you 97% of the time. I love him to death though and I often find myself looking forward to getting home so I can see his wagging tail or get a sweet hug from him or snuggle with him as I fall asleep. We enjoy long walks and going the dog park where he enjoys sniffing butts and humping little white fluffy dogs he thinks are bunnies and I enjoy watching him dart around like a crazy person acting like he’s some type of racing fool.
And while we haven’t run into anybody walking, well any “men” that is, I’ve come to realize that in order to run into guys my own age, you actually have to live in a neighborhood that’s not geriatric filled. It’s okay though I’ve actually learned a lot about Sammy, the 17- year old grayish/white Maltese with a fierce overbite. It’s exactly what I envisioned happening when I got a dog, right? Ha-ha.
Then again most things don’t happen like you think they will.
In both of my “pet” instances I thought I was getting something else but it developed into something far more than I ever would have envisioned.
Guess the reason I felt like writing about my pets today is because I truly believe pets are reflective of your personality and are so much like family in that they are always there for you. It’s absolutely amazing how much a pet can affect your life - in a good way. And at this very point in time - it's also amazing to me how much better pets can be than men. What this boils down to is…. I’m just hoping that in time...in due time… a real man will come to me with relevance just like my pets did.
Here's to hope!
1 comment:
I love your new blog site. You need to write books. Is there anything you can't do? Love ya!
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