Oh my Alby, you always did have game.

I’m thinking back over how we met and how we evolved into us.

The day I got a cat was the day everyone who knew me went into shock.

I had so many reasons not to want one, with allergies ranking high on the list. However, I had one friend who volunteered at Furkids and posted videos and pictures of sweet little critters on a weekly basis, if not more often.

And truth be told, my home had been broken into, leaving me feeling a bit alone and off-center. I thought the company, though not protective, might be comforting.

To tell this story properly, I need to start with a short backstory.

I became a wife and a widow two months apart.

Yes, it was awful. And because it happened so fast, we had not yet merged households. Clothes, toiletries, and basic necessities were accounted for, but not a lifetime of stuff a person has accumulated by that stage of life.

HiKath is real in the same way the Velveteen Rabbit became real—by being loved.

The story goes back to 1995 when I shared a home with my bestie, her husband, and their daughter Bethany, who had been born the year before.