Ode To My Best Friend

At the risk of sounding like a crazy cat lady, I love our cats Simon and Garfunkel, particularly this cat above. I picked Simon up at a strangers house just five years ago.

At that time I was still living in Huntington and going to school. I had just come back from a summer living in Brooklyn and I was really ready for a change.

I started an organization on campus called Handmade Brigade, which sizzled along with my academics. One meeting night one of our three members casually asked if anyone would like a kitten. Her roommates cat got pregnant and had too many. I perked up right away and not knowing if I could even handle a kitten right then I said “I’ll take one!”.

The next evening I was walking into a house where a lady was holding two tiny kittens in the palms of her hands. One was calico and the other was orange and white. In my head, I hoped it was the orange and white one. And couldn’t believe my luck when she handed him to me.

The first night I had him I was afraid I would accidentally kill him. Give him the wrong food, roll over on him while I slept…anything. But the days passed and as I got older, he did too. My life was changing in a big way and he was there.

I felt lonely and isolated in those days in Huntington. Long gone were the dorm days with my girlfriends; we were all pairing up and moving on. Me and Josh got back together and briefly he considered moving to West Virginia.

I needed out. I left school, and a few months later I moved to NYC with Simon on my lap. He loves riding in the car and unlike the usual spastic cat with just sleep the entire ride cuddling as close to you as he can get.

He lived in our little apartment with us for two years. We even took him around the block in our shopping cart on several occasions. Eventually we brought a stray in off of the streets and named him Garfunkel.

What I love about Simon and what I think most people love about their pets is that they are constant, endlessly loyal, without judgment and his little velvet ears are source of comfort when life seems uncertain.

Every morning I know I can count on a little furry lump at my feet. He will wake up as soon as he hears us stirring around eventually making his way to our stomachs and rubbing his face against ours. He never gets tired of doing this. I know that if I’m in the bathroom, he will be in the sink. If I’m on the couch watching tv, he is asleep next to me on the arm. If I’m in my studio working he is in the window looking at birds.

Five years later, my life is 100% better (and completely unexpected!)  and I’m so glad that he has been here through it.

Here’s to my furry best friend, may we have many more years together!