My Princess

Let’s talk about my cat.

This is Hermione. She is my whole world at this point. For a big part of the last year it’s just been me and her hanging out in isolation.

Julie and I adopted her while we were dating. She had always wanted a pet even before we met. It was a tumultuous time in our lives. I was starting a new job. We had just moved in together into her condo. Our relationship was one were I was kind of jumping headfirst into her life and shedding a lot of my own. I was living in her space. And we were still finding the balance of our two lives. The we dropped a cat into the middle of it.

At the shelter, which I found out Julie had been going to for a while before she brought me in, I found out that she already had some favorites and I was there just to make sure that she didn’t pick one that hated me. The shelter was great and we got to walk around in the area where all the cats shared a big play area. Julie sat down to let the cats all get used to our presence and Hermione jumped up into her lap almost immediately.

I have always been a cat person. As a kid we had multiple cats when we lived in Mississippi, and there were a lot of community cats. Growing up, and once we moved to Illinois, we just had Happy. The least joyful cat you ever met. I was kind of the only person he ever liked. He slept with me most of the time and we played together, but, for example, one time he managed to chase my brother onto the kitchen counter. I don’t know how a declawed cat chases a 17 year old onto a counter but it happened.

So, back to the present, there was never a chance Hermione and I weren’t going to get along. She almost immediately became the glue between Julie and I as we both did everything we could to spoil our little girl.

Julie and I never really wanted kids. For me the responsibility of being in charge of another sentient being was a bit much, but Hermione, already an adult cat when we adopted her, could easily be self sufficient. She just comes around when she wants some attention and scratches. I just need to have the food and the treats ready on demand. It’s the perfect relationship.

When I lost Julie I have to say I was very lucky to be surrounded by friends and family. My parents came and stayed with me for a month. Julie’s friends came and brought food and love. And Hermione was there bringing peace to all of us. She is such a loving little being and I really believe that it’s Julie’s spirit continuing on in our lives. We all could take a lesson from her and embrace love.