Hey all! So I am not in the mood to reflect on anything really all that deep right now. In fact, I don’t want to think about much these days. So this post is going to be slightly corny and light hearted, not like my usual ramblings. For those of you that know me, I was never much of a pet person. I love animals and care very deeply about preservation of wild animals and treating all animals humanely. Some of you may recall that I am the adopted mother of a fine manatee who lives in Florida named Georgia. However, when it comes to domesticated pets, I have never really owned any pets and never really expected to either. I guess I always felt like my lifestyle was not very conducive to additional responsibility because I tend to be gone for long periods of time either because of work or travel or who knows what. I really do live life by the seat of my pants most of the time. So I ALWAYS told my two kids we were NEVER going to have a pet. You would think that by now whenever I say I am never going to do something I usually end up doing it at some point but I still haven’t learned my lesson apparently. Anyway, around December, one of my friends somehow managed to convince me that Brookie needed a hamster for Christmas. I was against it initially because I didn’t even understand the point of having a hamster. I relented because my friend did make a few good points about how it would teach responsibility and foster a love of animals. That is how I came to find myself inside of a PetSmart – a store I had actually never been in before – looking at Hamsters. I know its corny but I felt really happy signing the hamster adoption papers and taking that little thing home in a cardboard box. It was the first pet I had ever purchased. But I still wasn’t entirely sure about the whole concept. I thought hamsters honestly just slept in their cages 90% of the time. That thought to be continued…. But for now, back to Christmas of 2019, if Brooklyn was getting a pet, that meant Trevor had to get something as well. I didn’t want to two hamsters (not yet – some foreshadowing for you there) so next thing I knew, I was buying a fish tank. I went from zero pets to six pets if you count all the fish in a day.
For reasons that I’d rather not discuss in this blog, after Christmas, the next few months were a little rough for me and the fam. Eventually, it became obvious we needed to find a house to live in as a family. Fortunately, before all of the COVID shit hit the fan, I was able to find a decent house in the kids’ school district. We moved literally the week before COVID started to dominate everything and everyone. Again, without getting into the specifics, it was sort of a rough transition for all of us. During the tumultuous transition period, at one point, my daughter, Brooklyn – who also goes by Brookie – told me that it would be great if we could get a cat when we moved. Not thinking too hard about it because I was distracted AF, I said something to the effect of, “I will think about it.” However, what I said and what Brookie heard were two different things. Brookie apparently heard that I had definitively committed to getting a cat. She literally started telling everyone that we were getting a cat when we moved into the new house. She really out smarted me there as I totally felt obligated once she had told pretty much all of her friends and extended family the news. So once again, in March, I found myself shopping for yet another pet. I took the kids to the Animal Rescue Leagueand Trevor, my son, immediately found the cat he wanted. As I examined the card, however, it turned out this particular cat, named Cherish, had a “bonded buddy,” which meant you had to adopt the cats a pair. Well, you can guess what happened. Yep, that day I took two cats home – Cherish and her buddy, January. So now I was up to one hamster, five fish and two cats in a matter of months. Initially, January was a real asshole cat. I had to sign a behavior waiver to even take her home because of her constant need to hiss at people when they got too close to her. But by God, those were the cats my kids wanted and so of course, I signed the waiver without a second thought. The cats hid for months and January, who earned the nickname Crabby or Crabs, never stopped hissing during those two months as well. I began to seriously question why I had ever agreed to become a cat owner. But seeing my children try so hard to get the cats to like them and to come out, warmed my heart. My son would spend hours in the basement trying to get the cats to come play. My daughter would read facts about cats on the Internet to try to understand their body language. How could I possibly regret getting cats if my kids were already so happy and excited? There was no way. So now that I had violated my rule of no pets this far, it made perfect sense when I found myself picking out another hamster for Trevor’s birthday. By this time, I had fallen in love with June – the original hamster I purchased for my daughter. I came to learn June had a personality, she liked pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds and would run and run in her wheel for hours. Brooklyn actually took June out quite often and we held her and played with her for hours. I don’t know exactly when, but at some point, it became not weird at all to give June a kiss. Nope, wasn’t weird at all after everything else I had done. So on Trevor’s birthday, we picked out yet another hamster. This time, we chose a winter white hamster who is now named Winnie. So in April, we became a two cat, two hamster and five fish household. Winnie has a completely different personality from June. Winnie is a little lazy, a little timid, a little shy. June is ballsy and bold. And I love them both. They are out of their cages a lot and love getting treats. They run around my kitchen table and explore pretty much whatever is around. At some point we came to realize that most cages you buy at a pet store are too small for hamsters who require space to burrow, nest and tunnel. So it made complete sense when I, the person who would never own pets, decided to hand build two hamster cages that would essentially be the Hilton of hamster cages. Let’s just say the entire endeavor involved me buying a Dremel, chicken wire and zip ties. I still don’t really know how to use the Dremel but this asshole figured it out long enough to get those cages built. So now the hamsters have larger cages, a million toys and two kids and one adult who loves them. I also love the cats and hell, I might even love the damn fish at this point.
So to bring shit back to the present, I have to say, however, that while 2020 may be a complete shit show in a lot of ways, having those pets has really been a bright spot in the midst of the pandemic. It has also made me rethink using the word “never.” I was so adamant that pets would be an extra burden I could not take on and yet they have actually made our lives better. I never knew it was possible to love a hamster but I swear to you, I love both of those little rodents. The cats still dislike me and probably always will. My sisters joke it is because we are in fight for the Alpha female title in the house – haha – but I think it is because I had to take them to the vet and I haven’t spent hours giving them treats like the kids have. Whatever it is, I am amazed at how far the cats have come. Cherish and January both let the kids snuggle with them, pet them, play with them and hug them. Crabby aka January no longer hisses at me which I consider a win. They no longer hide and have really made huge strides since March. In reflecting on all of this, I am glad I have all the pets that I do and I never thought I would say that. I think it is a good lesson to learn about speaking in absolutes and closing yourself off to potential possibilities based on preconceived notions or opinions that aren’t really supported by anything. I think it also shows that sometimes good things don’t always come easily or can be found in unexpected places. The other point this brings up is that sometimes we don’t always know what is best and we have to be open to change. I could never have predicted I would love two hamsters or that two cats or five fish would make my children (and me) so happy. My hope for today and for the rest of my life, is that I can be open to what the universe puts in front of me – comfortable or not. If we aren’t uncomfortable or reaching outside what we are accustomed to, are we really growing? And if we aren’t really growing, then are we missing out on what the universe might be presenting to us? I am not always happy, I can tend to be melancholy. But lately, I am learning that just being open to possibilities presents doors I never knew existed, and when those doors are opened, the fact is that your life can be changed in an unpredictable yet beautiful way. I’m learning to take more risk, even when it means I can be hurt. I try to remember that most people are confined... “They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision.” - V.S. Naipaul. My wish for myself and everyone is that today and every day, we can start opening ourselves to the unexpected, unplanned and unanticipated. The color of my life is so much brighter when I do. Love, Jill
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