It’s just meant to be

Over the course of my life, I hadn’t ever been much of a pet person. Sure, we had pets when I was a child. But as an adult living on my own it just wasn’t on the radar.

That changed for me somewhere in the last 8 or 9 years and I started talking about adopting a cat. I knew cats were fiercely independent and could be left on their own for a few days at a time, things that matter to someone who spends a lot of time away from home. But it wasn’t until 6 years ago when I began working from home full time the idea became more of a reality. Yet, I continued to put it off for some unknown reason.

It could be that I had just made a major life change. At the age of 50 I moved across country from NJ to Southern California. It was a HUGE change for me. I loved the California coastline. I spent my time trying to make friends and settle in. Life then dealt me a major romantic blow. That led to another move abut two and a half years ago, to Nashville. And I started to crave the companionship I knew a cat would provide. For reasons unknown to me I still did nothing.

About 8 months after landing in Music City came the tornado. It landed half mile from my apartment. Scared the heck out of me. Then in March 2020 came quarantine life, and I was stuck home due to the Pandemic. I got serious about wanting a companion. A pet to comfort me, to give unconditional love to and feel loved back.

I began shelter hunting. Turns out Nashville has A LOT of shelters. And as the pandemic raged, people were giving up their pets. It was so sad to look thru all these photos! But this one little kitty, a 5-month-old tortie, caught my eye on Metro Animal Control’s web site. Something about her eyes kept tugging at my heart. I went back to her photo countless times. Her eyes were just beautiful. She was precious. To this day her eyes still break my heart.

A week or two went by and I mentioned to one of my girlfriends I really wanted to adopt a cat. She says “oh, reach out to Dan & Mary in the building. Their daughter’s friend is fostering.“ More time goes by and I text this young woman I never met. A photo arrives and these beautiful eyes stare into mine —— and could it be? She looks JUST LIKE MY CAT AT METRO!

Hmm. I call Metro. Hey, I say. Is so and so fostering cat number 1234? Yup. She is!! Oh my! IT IS JUST MEANT TO BE! I couldn’t contain my excitement.

After a few calls and paperwork, some back and forth with Metro, within days Etta comes home to me! (I renamed her from Ava, to honor Etta James, my favorite blues singer). She’s so small and timid but immediately feels comfortable at my apartment. Like she belongs here. Like this was always her home. We mesh together so well.

Some adjustments happen for me. The big one is learning to live with a kitten running all over your apartment when you are trying to go to sleep. But that eventually goes away. The one that I still adore is having her cuddled in my arms and legs at night when we go to sleep.

Now, 18 months later, I can seriously say Etta is the best thing that has ever happened to me. She helps me work during the day. She misses me when I’m gone (as I do her). I feel so complete with her here. My little girl will be 2 Oct 7th. She rocks my world. Etta makes my life whole. I wonder why I waited so long.