Happy Birthday, Lola
I’m back. After a break from blogging, I’m back. The past couple of moths have been strange to say the least but that’s another story for another day.
Today, however, is all about Lola. So if you know me at all, you know that I love my sweet angel Lola more than anything in this world. She is my roommate, best friend and just so happens to be a cat. But a lot of people don’t know how we found each other. November 2nd was her 9th birthday and I had a birthday party…for my cat. She is a queen and deserves nothing but the best.
I was a Junior in college at Chicago State University, living in the beautiful Hyde Park area. Tbh some parts were sketchy but at this time, I was living in a nice building right by the water and it was my fave. One of my friends from Kentucky, Brooke, had just moved to Chicago that year and was going to school downtown so we hung out every now and then when we could. I met her roommates and new friends and one of them was from the suburbs of Chicago, which was like 30-45 minutes away from the city.
I had wanted a pet so bad because for my Sophomore and first part of my Junior year I was living alone for the first time with no roommates or anything. All of my teammates lived on campus and while I loved being off campus, it was just different. I also had had surgery on my shoulder and I never truly recovered or was able to play at the level that would have made me happy. All of this plus regular life stuff had me feeling super depressed and I read that cats have been found to help with anxiety and depression.
Anyway, back to Brooke. So I hung out with her friends a couple of times and it was a nice change of pace because we went to different universities and they were all into fashion and design and media which was a whole new world for me. I followed them on social media and one day Brooke’s roommate, Jade, shared photos of the most beautiful cat I had ever laid eyes on. She said that this cat had been coming to her parent’s house in the suburbs and they had been feeding her and giving her water but that she didn’t have a tag and they couldn’t keep her because her mom was allergic. They were planning to take her to a shelter because it was starting to get so cold in Chicago - and if you know anything about Chicago winters, then YOU KNOW this cat would have not survived. Also, since people that are looking to adopt pets always lean towards getting puppies and kittens, the chances of this grown cat getting adopted were not great.
This cat, was Lola. When I saw Jade’s post I immediately wanted her, but I had never really had a pet of my own like this. I mean I had a guinea pig when I was in high school, Wendy Wu, may you rest in peace, but not like a cat or a dog. So anyway, I’m not really sure that I ever really convinced my mom to say yes but I just went to pick up Brooke and Jade and drove to Jade’s house in the suburbs.
We got to their house and Jades’s sweet mom explained the situation and that she would love to keep her because she was so sweet but that she was very allergic. We went outside and it was the four of us standing there and I remember being so excited and nervous at the same time. Lola came right up to us and let us pet her and even let me pick her up. I was so in love and knew I could not live a single day without her.
At the time, I was watching Gossip Girl for like the first time and was obsessed with Blair Waldorf so we decided to name her Blair. Jade’s mom had literally everything I needed to take her home - food, treats, a crate, all the things - so we put her in the crate and drove back to the city. Unfortunately, we got caught in a lot of traffic and after dropping the girls off downtown, I was still like 20 minutes away from home. There was meowing coming from the backseat but I couldn’t let her out until we got home.
Once we were home, I opened the crate inside, thinking that she would come out slowly. NOPE. She darted out of that thing like a bat out of hell, running laps around the apartment and finally landing under my bed JUST far enough away where I couldn’t reach her. I went to put the crate away and noticed that she had peed in it so yeah, she had just ran around the whole place while she had pee on her fur. I knew I had to get her cleaned up but she just did NOT want to come out from under the bed. I tried everything from food, water to reaching under my bed with a broom. Finally I got her to come out and trapped her in the bathroom where I then proceeded to give her a SHOWER. Lots of hissing, as you can imagine. After she was all cleaned up, I let her roam free and she just went back under the bed. Eventually, she felt comfortable enough to come out and get food and water and even got the courage to hop up on my bed and lay with me.
Cats can be known to be very standoffish and even rude, and Lola can be like that. But I think that that’s what makes her displays of affection so special. Like when she lays on my stomach and purrs or when she pets ME with her tail or when she presses her cold ass nose onto my nose to wake me up in the morning. I never really fully believed that cats could help with depression but having this little animal living with me and just spending time with her, we built this incredible bond. She never really acted like a “regular” cat though. She gets so excited when I come home, although right now I think she gets more excited when I finally leave the apartment. She guards the bathroom while I’m taking a shower and she sleeps on the pillow right next to my face most nights. She meows when I speak to her and she always meows when we are facetiming my grandparents. She started out with me in Chicago and moved back to Kentucky with me and eventually joined me in NYC. We have met some incredible people along the way and everyone has been amazing by helping me with Lola when I travel or need anything.
Last week, on Nov 2, 2020, I had a birthday party for her. It was Nov 2nd when I first picked her up in the suburbs of Chicago and the vet thinks that she was about 3 at the time. Now 6 years later, we celebrated her 9th “birthday” with close friends here in NYC. Since we are in the middle of a pandemic and I am super stressed about getting covid, I could only invite a few people but let me tell you, these few really pulled through. Not many people would go along with this cat birthday party idea but my friends did. Ivona brought Lola cat toys and brought me a little gift as well. John and James got lola some cute toys filled with catnip in the shape of bugs, which Lola loved. And Steph, of course, got Lola the cutest cat toys shaped like sushi. Lola loves attention and presents and that’s exactly what my friends gave her. I cooked enchiladas for them, so mexican of me, and we drank tequila. It was the best Monday ever.
To my sweet friends- thanks for putting up with my crazy ideas. You made Lola feel like the queen that she is and made me such a happy cat mom. Here’s to many more cat birthday parties. We don’t deserve pets, but we are so lucky to have them.
