The story of Luna

Have you ever been overcome with something that you felt so certain about that you could not ignore it? I have. But it’s a rare occurrence. The first time I really remember feeling that was when I knew I would marry my then-boyfriend, now-husband. And the most recent time was about 7 weeks ago. That was when I knew that our family needed a pet, and that pet should be a cat.

It was Thursday evening. The feeling hit me out of the blue. I decided to sit with it a while.

The next morning, I was still thinking about it. So I asked my daughter what she thought of getting a cat. She said no.

But I couldn’t let the idea go. I spent A LOT of time on Petfinder on Friday. I found a beautiful cat named Pearl. I was smitten instantly. I showed everyone at work her picture and said, “Don't you think she wants to come home with me?” They all said yes.

As it turns out, the cat rescue that had Pearl also had an agreement with a local pet store that is very near my house. It couldn’t hurt just to swing by on the way home from work and see her, could it?

Which is how I found myself at the pet store telling the nice lady (her name was Sarah - all the good people in my life end up being named Sara or Sarah :-)) about our family. I told her that we don’t have any pets now, mostly because my daughter is hesitant around most animals. We probably need a cat that is pretty chill. Sarah kindly informed me that Pearl was NOT that cat. However… she went to open another cage. “You should look at Faith,” she said.

As soon as she opened the cage, the cat did a long stretch and rubbed my legs. She was so sweet and friendly. Sarah told me she had previously lived with a couple with a daughter (just like us), but the daughter ended up being extremely allergic and they had to surrender her. It seemed perfect. This was THE cat. I knew it.

I went home. I told my husband and daughter that I had found a terrific cat and I really wanted them to go see her. My daughter said no. My husband said it was worth a look, but wanted to go after he went out for a run. I spent the whole time he was gone giving myself a crash course on caring for a cat via the wonders of the Internet. I have never had a “real” pet and I needed information.

We got to the pet store, and in less than 2 minutes, my daughter looked at me excitedly and said, “Mommy, I want this cat!” This was followed by the whirlwind of filling out the adoption application, completing the interview with the cat rescue representative on the phone while still in the store, and buying what we needed to care for a cat. We decided to hurry home and have dinner and set up a little area for Faith (though we knew we would change her name) in our laundry room. The pet store workers had recommended we give her a dedicated space for the first night to acclimatize.

Our cat sweetly curled up by the window of the pet store - exactly where my husband and daughter saw her for the first time.

My daughter and I then raced back to the pet store to pick up our new cat before they closed. We brought her to the laundry room and she started purring immediately. She was friendly and seemed at ease.

On Saturday, my daughter woke around 5:45 am due to bad dreams, and the fact that she could hear the cat. We giggled in her bed for a couple of minutes about the adorableness of the cat’s meow. Then all 3 of us decided to start the day early and let the cat out to explore the house.

She checked everything out carefully, but confidently. She didn’t hide. We went to buy ridiculous things like a cat ottoman and a lunar module bed. (Even I am not that controlled of a minimalist. I had to have a couple of cute cat things. In the grand scheme of things, I was actually very restrained.) That evening, she crawled into my lap to watch TV with us.

By Sunday, after trying out a lot of different name ideas, the three of us finally agreed on Luna.

Luna in her “luna module”

She is now my crafting assistant. She is afraid of the sound the ironing board makes when I put it up or take it down, and she is very suspicious of the iron on steam mode. But she does love to sit and watch me sew. She also watches me knit with curious eyes, but never bothers my yarn.

And that is the story of how we ended up with the perfect cat for our family. I can’t believe I went through so much of my life without the wonders of a pet.

Luna naps by my feet on the couch while I knit.