Apollo Gets Adopted (A Short Story)

My name is Apollo. And, as you can probably tell from the picture below, I'm a cat.

I've never done anything special, like rescue someone from a fire, save someone from drowning or protected my house from burglars. Instead, I'm just an ordinary house cat living with a family in Wisconsin. My average day consists of sleeping, eating and occasionally playing with one of my toys. My favorite activity is crawling into my mother's lap each night when she sits down to watch a movie on TV.

However, while I consider myself an ordinary cat, I also know I'm a lucky cat. This is because, nearly 16 years ago, things weren't like this at all.

When I was younger, I didn't have a family. I was a stray. And, ultimately, I ended up living in an animal shelter in Pennsylvania.

Life in the shelter wasn't horrible. The people there were good people, and they took good care of me. It just wasn't the same as having a family of my own and I was lonely.

The worst part was I had to share my room with several other cats. Not only was it crowded, but there was also this one cat that always insisted on sleeping in the litter box. Talk about awkward.

I'm not sure how long I lived at the shelter. However, every day was pretty much the same. People would come in looking for a cat, but they were always interested in adopting a kitten. Since I was already 2 years old (adult age for a cat), they would ignore me.

Needless to say, I wondered if I would ever find someone to adopt me and, when I thought about never finding a family, it really did scare me.

One morning, a man and woman walked into the shelter. They, like everyone else, were interested in adopting a kitten and when they learned the shelter didn't have any that were ready to be adopted, I thought they would leave.

Instead of leaving, however, they walked over to my room. I was so excited when the woman opened the door; I jumped into her arms.

It was love at first sight and the man and woman spent several minutes with me. They then had to leave, and I was sad again. As she was leaving, the woman stopped and promised me it was only temporary and they would be back.

I don't know how long they were gone, but it seemed like an eternity. I wondered if they really were coming back or if they decided not to adopt an adult cat after all. All I could do was sit and wait.

And sit and wait some more.

And wait even longer.

OK, maybe I found time to eat something while waiting.

Then, just when I was about to give up hope, the man and woman returned! More importantly, when they left this time, they took me with them. I had been adopted!

Even though I was excited about having adoptive parents, I was also a bit scared. I don't like cars and was so nervous riding in one on the way back to their apartment; I escaped my cat carrier and tried to hide behind their back seat.

And, when I first moved in with them, things weren't quite as easy as everyone expected it to be. It took time, a lot of patience and quite a bit of forgiveness before we finally adjusted to the new arrangement.

Despite that, it was worth it. Things have been great. My new parents moved back to Wisconsin a short while later and, when they did, they took me with them. I didn't like the long car ride (as I said before, I don't like cars). I did, however, get to spend the night in a motel and that was pretty neat.

After a few more years, they had (human) kids. That was another adjustment for me. However, they didn't forget about me and made sure I remained part of their family. They even celebrate my birthday (April 13th, the day they adopted me) and make sure there is at least one present for me under the Christmas tree.

There are days when I think back to my time at the animal shelter and wonder if my former roommates were as lucky as I was and found families of their own. And, as I think about them, I am grateful for the two special people who were willing to give me a home even though I wasn't a kitten anymore and have continued to care for me for almost 16 years.

After all, as I said before, I'm just an ordinary house cat and there's really nothing special about me. However, thanks to the generosity of my mom and dad, I am part of a family and that makes me feel special every day. 

So, come to think of it, maybe I'm not so ordinary after all.

Author's note: My wife and I adopted Apollo on April 13, 2001, from a shelter in northern Pennsylvania. He was with us for more than 16 years before passing away, at the age of 18, on May 1, 2017. In addition to keeping his ashes and pawprint on a shelf in our bedroom, we have honored his legacy by making regular contributions to our local humane society and giving a home to three more rescued cats (and counting).