September 15th, a day where I made a monumental decision, and the day where I got a call detailing my recent exposure to an individual who has tested positive for the coronavirus. I had previously been pondering the idea about adopting some pets for months, but I was unsure of the appropriate time to do so. Furthermore, I have wanted two cats for quite a while, but I never got the chance to do research on how to care for them. After moving back to Georgetown for school, I did some extensive googling on cat care, how to introduce them to a new environment, what litter boxes are best, etc. Additionally, I hopelessly scoured the nearby animal shelters in hopes of finding a “perfect cat,” if that even exists. Eventually, I stumbled upon the Georgetown Animal Shelter’s website, one of the only ones I haven’t visited ironically, and saw an image of two adorable kittens, Jade and Hazel. The bios for both of the kittens explained that the pair were bonded and had to be adopted together, which to myself was already a sign I had to adopt them. I immediately put in a request to see if they were still available and if I could possibly meet them. 

A week later, I finally received a response back from the shelter. After a few questionnaires over the phone, and haggling over certain dates, I settled on a time to meet the two precious kittens. I ventured over to the shelter on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and patiently sat outside of the kittens room for roughly an hour. After thirty minutes, the kittens, who are incredibly shy, finally left their concealed bed to greet me. I cautiously pet them and gave them ample space to walk away from me when needed. Eventually after an hour, the shelter employee asked the daunting question “so what’s it going to be?” and my heart wouldn’t let me walk out of that shelter without adopting the two amazing girls. As I was about to say yes, a woman appeared from within the office and whispered something to the employee assisting me. All while I was there, some mysterious donor sponsored Jade and Hazel’s adoption fee, so the costs were almost completely waived, minus the Georgetown pet license, which struck me as another miraculous sign that I had to adopt them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring them home that day, so I scheduled a time later in the week to pick them up, which allowed for me to gather supplies for their arrival home.  

Now back to September 15th, the day I arrived back to the animal shelter to pick up Jade and Hazel. I strolled up to the front doors, kennel in hand, and was led to the girls room. The shelter employee graciously assisted the kitties into their kennel and I was off to bring them back to my apartment. The ride home was smooth and I made sure to talk to the girls in a calm voice the entire ride home. I arrived at my apartment and let the kittens out into their safe room, which happened to double as my bathroom. They immediately ran to hide, so I let them explore for a few minutes before I came back into the room to greet them. Later that day, I received a phone call from the school that I had recently come into contact with an individual who had tested positive for COVID-19. Great, I thought, now I have to quarantine at my apartment for two whole weeks, unable to leave the premises. On the other hand, this unique opportunity has given me two whole weeks at home, to let the kitties adjust to their new environment, and to let them get acquainted with my roommate and I.

Two weeks later, I managed to endure absolute boredom and remain symptom free, but the cats have ventured out of their safe room and are, for the most part, free roaming the apartment. The kitties are still adjusting to some minute sounds, like the door opening and neighbors moving objects around, but have become quite familiar with their surroundings in their new forever home. I even caught the girls chasing each other one morning and playing with their toys I bought for them, neither of which they have done since arriving at the apartment. On a positive note, I have renamed the kitties Tia and Tamera after the critically acclaimed song by the singer Doja Cat. Moreover, this quarantine was a wonderful blessing in disguise where I would not have been able to endure it if I didn’t have my new furry friends here.