Siamese until recently. My wife spent eight years begging me and coercing me and convincing me that a cat in our marriage would not only make her happy – but that I would also be soothed by the companionship of a living, breathing creature that we would share in raising.
Jenn had pets all of her childhood in New Hampshire. I did as well. My mom loved animals.
As much as I understood the value of an animal, I also understood and completely respected the immense full-time responsibility of having a pet. After having a child before I was 16 years old who I raised almost singlehandedly for the next 18 years and various real-world heaviness with employees, business, an aging mother and heavy responsibilities to my career and partners, I simply thought it was too big of a total commitment to have another living, breathing organism whose life was dependent upon my care.
In the fall of 2011, Jenn was very emotional one night and I finally cracked over washing dishes when I told her: “If it’s that important to you, we’ll adopt a cat in the spring after the Super Bowl.” She knows I say what I mean and I mean what I say but was almost skeptical after my years of indifference and almost total reluctance. But, I gave her my word and I always keep my word. Jenn promised to provide all of the care – food, water, litter box, grooming, etc. I promised to do my best to make it work if we had a cat that didn’t make me miserable – or worse yet, sneezy!
Jenn spent the next six months perusing various “Adopt a Pet” kinda matches online, looking for a cat to add to our little family. She constantly watched Jackson Galaxy (he’s “the cat whisperer” on TV) and I learned a ton about the various instincts, moods, behaviors, needs and breeds of cats. Honestly, I was very, very concerned that this pending adoption could lead to the end of our marriage if we adopted a feline that she loved but I didn’t want. Or worse, a cat that become my personal “cat from hell.”
I reached to my lifelong pal John Rallo (of Shogun and local MMA fame) when we were in the market to adopt for advice because he shot a TV show about his reluctance to adopt a cat but became a feline lover and massive advocate locally for showing his “soft side” for his love of animals. I’ve since told anyone in the animal rescue space that I’m an easy mark for free publicity for the incredible work they do to keep creatures alive and find them love.
When April 2012 came, we knew we’d be adopting from Baltimore Humane because of their desire to partner with WNST for their “Dog Fest” events the previous few years.
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We drove out to Nicodemus Road in Reisterstown on a Saturday morning to the beautiful campus that saves animals and Jenn couldn’t have been any more excited to bring home a new family member. When we arrived, the first animal we met and took into their little holding room was “Bree.”
I saw her little two-toned face and striking green eyes through the cage and my heart melted.
As a guy who once spent an emotional day with Cal Ripken in Beijing, China in 2007 at an orphanage with hundreds of abandoned daughters, all I could see in her face was the kind of uniqueness and her striking two-toned colors and her sense of
