like a lot of us in quarantine, the COVID-19 pandemic completely altered our lives. managing the heightened stress and anxiety that came along with the uncertainty of the pandemic was becoming ever more challenging. i started to think more and more about getting an emotional support animal. i started scrounging facebook groups, just to see if there were any pets that may be needing a new home. i did this for about three weeks. slowly, growing more and more convinced that i needed to commit to adopting a pet.
then one day, there she be. an adorable long haired kitty with big green eyes, white chin, and light brown-orange-black fur. she had been living in the family's detached laundry room for over a year and had began refusing to go inside due to the other animals in the house. she was actually the family cat's baby which they had kept along with one other male kitten after they were born. i immediately messaged the owner and asked if she was still available, which she was! i showed my partner and said "i think i'm going to adopt this cat." we were talking with another family about their two cats and i remember my partner saying that the other two cats, "were a better deal, we'd get two kitties!" he wasn't wrong, but i loved this one.
after facetiming the owner of the laundry-kitty, i knew this was the one i wanted. the owner had named her paige. a good name, but my partner and i had no connection to the name and wanted to name our first fur baby ourselves. the kitty just so happened to be in tacoma, wa which is where i got my first job in my field after graduating and where i lived for a year and a half. my partner and i were brainstorming a couple of days before we were expected to pick up our new lil fur-babez when he suggested the name, alma, after one of our favorite places in tacoma. i'm pretty sure i started to tear up because of excitement and nostalgia, i couldn't believe how perfect and fitting the name was.
on april 4, 2020, we left for tacoma to get our new kitty. i'm never good remembering dates, even my cousin's birthday, one of my best friends and i've literally known her my entire life, i still can't get her birthday date right. but for all my beyonce fans, y'all know what april 4th is.
and so it goes, our cute little laundry-kitty became the name of my earring business!
