Cleo, the breakup kitten

An article about a jaded woman who learns about love after adopting a kitten.

I love it... for all kinds of reasons. Here's the last (and most interesting) half!


"... The first few weeks and months with Cleo were ... exciting to say the least. There was the time when I walked out of the kitchen and discovered Cleo rolling on the keyboard of my computer. On the screen, I saw an e-mail window. I rushed towards her, but the window vanished and these words appeared: "Your email has been sent."

I opened the sent mail box to figure out what had just happened. My little kitten had sent an email to a very important editor, one I'd been trying to convince to run one of my stories for six months. Here is what the email said: "jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj';;;;;;;;;;;;;'nnnnnnnnnn=====?" (ANNIE!!)

Worried this editor would think I was a nutcase, I wrote him quickly. "So sorry, my new cat somehow managed to send you a rogue email. I think you know what she means."

He didn't seem amused. I never heard from him again. Also, the "L" key on my computer had gone missing....

... But even though she drove me crazy on a regular basis, Cleo helped me navigate the rush of negative emotions that come with the dissolving of a long-term relationship. When I woke up in the middle of the night and felt disoriented in bed alone, I'd feel Cleo jump onto the mattress and walk towards me, purring maniacally.

And when I spent the walk to my apartment thinking that I was unwanted and unneeded, when Cleo heard my key in the lock, she would come prancing towards the door, meowing loudly, as if to say that all was right in the world now that I was home.

It's amazing how much Cleo has taught me about love in 2 ½ years. Even in those moments when she is driving me insane ... it's never once occurred to me that maybe Cleo isn't the cat for me, that maybe she doesn't respect my space, or that maybe we just don't have enough in common for this to work.

These thoughts have all run through my head with significant others, as if my brain is a CNN ticker tape of maybes, questions, and doubts. With Cleo there is no "Are we meant to be together?" There is only that I need her, and she needs me.

It's always baffled me how two people realize that they can spend their lives together. Happy couples, especially those of the married variety, have this annoying habit of saying, "You just know." You just know? The phrase always made me want to grab them by the shoulders, shake them, and yell, "Please, for the love of God, can you be a little more specific?"

But now that I have Cleo, I think I finally understand. It's not that you get hit with a magic lightning bolt of knowledge -- it's that you just stop questioning. The analytical part of your brain shuts off and allows you to just exist. There is no "Do we have a future together?" Because you just do.

Cleo, my breakup kitten, has seen me through another breakup and there's a good chance she will witness many more. But now I know that when I meet someone whom I can build a life with, I'll at least be able to recognize it.

I won't ask myself if he's too quiet/loud, short/tall, introverted/extroverted, needy/detached -- whatever combination he may be (unless, of course, we're talking something really serious), I'll be able to put up with it. Because, hey, I've actually come to love Cleo's quirks.

All I can say for sure is that, whoever this mysterious guy may be, he better not be allergic to cats."

:) :)

(Full article)