A 10-minute Walk, and a Purr That Changed My Life

Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, started off like most weekdays for me. Working in consulting, there are always ebbs and flows. Some days I’m extremely busy, other times I’m not.

That day was one of the latter. I was having lunch with a co-worker when he brought up that he was thinking about getting a cat, and planned to soon take a nice 10-minute walk to the Boston Animal Rescue League for a peek at those being sheltered there. 

Being a lover of animals, I offered to go with him. Since neither of us were very busy, we went that afternoon. We walked around the area where they have the cats and met a few adorable characters, like a gray short-haired named Professor Lupin.

Just as we were finishing up and about to leave, one of the volunteers stopped us. She informed us that there were three tabby kittens just up for adoption that needed to be socialized (meaning, they need more human interaction), and she asked us if we were interested in holding and playing with them for a bit. There was no way either of us were going to turn that offer down. 

We went into a small penned area and sat down; the kittens, when brought out of their kennel, were terrified. They had been found as strays early enough that they could be socialized and become great pets, but they weren’t there yet.

The three were siblings, two brothers and a sister. We were instructed to pick on and put them on our laps and just hold them for a bit. I chose the girl. Soon after settling on my lap, she was purring and nuzzling into my hand. I fell in complete and utter love with this tiny creature. She was quite scared, but I could tell how much love she had. 

Now, there were several problems with me becoming so attached to this kitten. One, both my roommate and I are allergic to cats. Two, I needed to convince my roommate that we should get her regardless of that first reason. Three, we needed permission from our landlord to have a pet (and I had no idea how to get that).

As I went to leave, I said I needed time to get all of above figured out, and I was informed that likely by tomorrow night, she would be adopted. I put down $25 as a holding fee, buying me 24 hours. But that was all I had to get my roommate on board, get approval from the landlord, and get pet supplies (considering everything closes at 8 p.m. and I was getting off at 7, that would be hard). And, I had to kitten-proof my room. 

Miraculously, I managed to do all of that by the next day, and my roommate and I decided to take the risk of allergies for one of the most adorable kittens we had ever seen.

I brought her home the next day. She was terrified, running away every time I tried to pick her up that day, and even for a few more days. But as soon as I would get her on my lap and start petting her, she would knead the bed and purr louder than I had ever heard a kitten purr. 

She has had plenty of socialization since, and has gotten quite comfortable in her new, and highly spoiled, life. The joy she brings to my life is indescribable (even though she keeps meowing at me to play fetch as I write this). She makes every part of my life better.

I get to wake up with a furry ball curled into my knee that starts purring as soon as she realizes I’m awake. As I wait for my breakfast to finish, she meows until I hold her by the window and pet her. Now that I’m working from home, I have a guest to brighten up all of my meetings. 

Persephone lives a highly pampered, overly spoiled life, and for that life, I will be with her always. The nice thing about cats (besides not having to take them outside in winter) is that they live decently long life spans. So, even if my lifespan is shortened by Huntington’s, at least I will have her for a quarter of it.

Alexus holding Persephone for the first time. (Photo courtesy of Alexus Jones)

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