I don’t think I’ve ever legitimately owned a pet in my life.

I had Mark the Goldfish when I was in third grade, but he never stayed for long. We put him in one of those expensive glass pitchers because we only had a tiny bit of space on the TV table in the living room, so it had to be something cylindrical and vertically spacious. Mark lasted only for a week. And he never really made any sounds so I thought he never heard me speak to him since he never responded. (Sorry that you had to hear everything I said back then, Mark. I hope you didn’t need to bring the burden of all my petty grade school problems to the afterlife.)

I guess I never really had some kind of sense of ownership over another life (which gives you an idea that I’ve never been in a ‘legit’ relationship in my life). I knew I was responsible for family members, but it wasn’t expected of me to be the one deciding or stepping up to take care of people, since I was the youngest in the family. I was the family’s baby, so everyone was really looking after me. (Sometimes, I still do feel like I’m being babied despite being close to age 30. :|)

And then came a cat!

Just around December of last year, my sister-in-law got a maine coon and named him Rory McDonald (someone’s obviously a fan of mixed martial arts); and while she technically owns it, the rest of us have embraced him as part of the family. I know that mothering a pet is leagues different from having a child, but the responsibility of taking care of a life is there. Since Rory started living with us, I’ve always known some behavioral changes among the humans at home will happen. In that way, Rory changed the way we live somehow (of course, besides the need to feed and nurture another life). Lately, I wake up thinking I’d have not only my family greet me a good morning, but a this cute little ball of fur, too. And with that I have an extra reason to be excited about waking up. Rory kinda looks like Puss in Boots, too, so you really can’t just help but gush over him.

One time, I heard mom and dad close to arguing, and then dad heard Rory meow. My dad looked for Rory and gently asked him if he was hungry, as if expecting a response. My dad laughed immediately after, when he realized how he seemed to be nicer to the cat than he was to my mom. Pretty much how I’ve been to people at home, too. Sadly.

I just love how having Rory around made us doubly aware of our behavior as people, even in small ways. :)