This morning my alarm went off at 7:30 AM. I hit snooze and thought, “what the hell is the point.” It’s day 18 of social (or physical distancing) in our home. I have left the house once to sit in the car and have a nice man at Dillon’s load my trunk with the groceries I ordered the night before. He loaded everything except for toilet paper, flour, and sugar. They were out. I became worried about our future.

So, this morning when my alarm went off at 7:30 AM, I hit snooze. Then I felt a little, furry paw on my face and heard the loud purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr of our growing, rambunctious kitty. We named him Titus, but call him Kitty. Kitty nibbled at my figures. I hid them under my pillow. Kitty put his little face on mine and pushed lovingly. Kitty’s purr increased in volume with every nuzzle. “Wake up!” he urged.

Our little kitty had a rough start to life. We were told Kitty (then Markus) was found having been hit by a car. The Lawrence Humane Society cleaned the larva from his wounds and stitched him up. A heating pad provided him the makeshift warmth of a mother. When we found him at the shelter, he was 2 months old. The only evidence of his rough start is an offset jaw emphasized by his little protruding teeth. We took this flaw as a sign he was meant for us, a family with a history of rough starts.

So when I got up this morning, it was for this cat, and for my little misfit family. We WILL get through this together. We have all been through worse. At least we now have each other. #PetsHealHearts

– Kaila