Introducing Theodore & Georgia Mae

Allowing me to adopt two rescue kittens was probably the best decision my parents have ever made. I love animals, I grew up in a home that always had at least one cat and one dog, but I didn’t really grasp what it meant to be a pet owner until last November. For most of my childhood, my older sisters or parents held the responsibility of caring for our pets. However, this past November, my family adopted a bonded pair of kittens that we’ve all acknowledged are really my cats. I’m responsible for feeding them every morning and as soon as I get home after school, I clean their litter box, I let them sleep with me at night and I clean up their messes when they knock over potted plants or spill trying to drink out of my coffee cup. When my mom and I met different cats at the Humane Society, it was ultimately I who had the final say on which kittens we adopted, and it was just my mom and I who decided on their names: Teddy and Georgia.

Even though I’ve always had pets and loved them with my whole heart, I’ve never cared for any as much as I do Teddy and Georgia. They’re literally the loves of my life. I am a little embarrassed to admit I carry Teddy around our house like a baby, and literally anywhere I am in the house, he finds me and sits in my lap. Georgia really likes to watch TV with me. She bats at the screen when characters move or there’s a loud noise and likes to sit on my keyboard when I’m typing. I probably sound a little obsessed with my cats, and I definitely am but they’re precious, so whatever.

I’ve always been a responsible person, but I have never truly been responsible for any other being, given I’m the youngest in my family and I don’t babysit all that often. Adopting kittens was definitely beneficial for me because until a few months ago I was incredibly nervous about the prospect of going to college in the fall of 2023. I’m not entirely sure why but I somehow got

it into my head, that when I move out, I am going to seriously lack self-sufficiency and “fail” at living on my own. While that might still happen, caring for Teddy and Georgia has made me realize that if I can keep two kittens alive, happy and healthy, living on my own surely can’t be all that bad.