I was 48 years old when I owned my first pet. My mom and dad had five kids under their roof, so raising an animal was not in the cards for our family. I’m so lucky that my sweet, docile brown tabby cat, Theo, came into our lives almost 5 years ago and I can’t imagine life without him. 

The decision to become a pet owner happened as my youngest son was struggling with mental health issues. It was suggested that he have a pet that would be there to comfort and love him unconditionally. There were two dilemmas when contemplating this decision, my son was highly allergic and my husband was not a feline-friendly kind of person. 

We were determined to make this work. Nic made the commitment that he would get allergy shots and my husband put aside the notion that he wasn’t a “cat person.” My son and I knew we wanted a rescue cat so I visited our local shelter, Angels for Animals. I wanted a girl kitten and was going to name her Stella. I just needed to find her. 

Theo appeared in the shelter among the dozens of adorable kittens and immediately jumped on my lap, He was a boy — skinny, scrawny, and with big ears. He sat there for a long time as if he knew me forever. The next visit was the same. He jumped on my lap and laid down. That was it. He chose me. 

It’s funny the way things worked out. Nic didn’t have to take one shot and has never had any kind of negative reaction to Theo, even when a blood test confirmed he was highly allergic. My husband? Well, it turns out he IS a cat person. I would say they are actually pretty good pals. That just goes to show you that Theo is absolutely meant to be part of our family. He has been a true joy in our life since the day we brought that little boy home. He makes us laugh, comforts us, and provides us good company. I have no doubt we rescued each other. 

Thank you to all those who choose rescue animals to be part of your world.