A Room With A Cat

It’s been more than a year and nine months since I lost my last kitty, Nicola. This is the longest time in my life (except when I was a foreign student in college) that I have not had a cat(s) in my life.

As I was growing up, we always had multiple cats in our family, and there was always my favorite though I loved them all. My family was not always very tight knit. Everyone, including my grandparents, seemed to be in their own little world. So for me, the cats provided me a little world of comfort. They unfailingly gave me solace when I was lonely, sad and/or scared let alone so much joy.

Towards the end of my days in college, I had adopted a kitty name, Yume (meant “dream” in Japanese), who ended up my only stable long-term relationship through my single years until a few years into my life with Kenny, my now husband. The comfort and stability she provided was unmeasurable all those years. And less than a year, we had adopted the twin kitties, Riley and Nicola. For the last decades until she passed, Nicola was my meditation partner who would wait for me on the chair when it was time to meditate and hop right onto my lap once I sat down. As I felt such a deep bond with that kitty, I was and still am grateful that the unimaginable event of the pandemic kept me at home to be with her and attend to her last several months of life, which was such an exquisite experience.

While I’m ready to welcome a new kitty or two into my life again, last week I got spend with two lovely kitties at my friend’s. Though one of them was too shy to let me play, the other one was friendly and affectionate. And when they do what they’re supposed to do … sleeping in the most comfy spot in the house, the sight of sleeping cat in the room gives me comfort.

All this to say, cherish all the little things in life that give us joy and comfort. Be grateful for the little moments that make us smile…