I had given up my cat and cockatiel because of allergies. But eventually, when I went to visit my cat at Mom’s house, I noticed I could sit on the floor and pet her without getting itchy eyes. Five years of allergy shots paid off.

October 2014. Mom had died, my daughter stopped talking to me, my son was, as usual, in his own world and his kids had grown up. That left me all alone while I tried to rebuild my life. I’d gotten a job sloshing coffee at a Dunkin Donuts shop, and my friend there had kittens to give away; one was a calico, and I love calicos. So I went to the pet shop and blew $300 on cat things. But when I went to pick up my kitten, I was told the calico was gone, and I had to choose between a female gray tiger or a male gray. Don’t need the stink of a male cat. Desperate to have company at home, I brought Aphrodite to my place.

She turned out to be a small version of a Maine coon cat; beautiful markings. Having footloose parents, she had (and still has) a tendency to wander, so I had to be careful entering and leaving the apartment. I called her a flying cat because she would shoot straight up in the air, not necessarily after any actual target. She loved to play, and since I had to work full time, I festooned her with toys.

When she was about six months old, I brought Aphrodite to the vet to be spayed and get her shots. They discovered a tapeworm and treated her. Now my tiny voracious eater started putting on weight. Still, damage had been done; as a two-year-old adult she only weighed five pounds.

Despite her size, I still say one kitten is equal to two small grandchildren. My cordless phone kept going dead because she liked to burrow behind the couch, disconnecting the power for the phone in the process. She could find countless hiding spots where I could never find her no matter how hard I searched. She would climb anything and knock down decorations as she wandered through. She digs out various objects like wrapped straws or toothbrushes and adopts them as toys. She climbs up my desk chair and opens the top desk drawer. Her treats are in there, but she doesn’t stop there. She also digs out cords, flashlights, whatever, and tosses them onto the floor.