Cosmo, 13

While most of the time, you aren't entirely sure about when a cat is born, Diana likes to designate a day. So I kind of guessed an approximate range, and we designated 1/20 as Cosmo's "meowday," as she puts it. She's about 13 now.

Cosmo was almost an accident. Stephanie and I had moved into an apartment, and decided that we wanted a cat. It was pretty early in the spring, I think March, when Steph's mom called and said that one of the charity groups had cats to adopt at a Wal-Mart. When we got there, there were two fuzzy cats, one that was I think an ugly mix of colors, and Cosmo. Knowing that I was allergic to some cats, but not all, I picked her tiny ass up, pushed my nose into her, and waited to see what happened. I was good, so we paid the couple of bucks, put her in a carrier box, and took her home.

And she began talking from that moment on. Though we didn't know she was a girl, as the charity people said she was a boy. You couldn't tell under all of that fur. Even the vet didn't realize it the first visit.

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of kitten pictures of her, if any at all. Back in those days, film was expensive and we were poor. She always had a ton of nutty personality, and in her first few years loved to do all kinds of crazy acrobatic shit.

She was very much a momma's girl in her younger years, which makes sense because with Steph in school and also doing some retail gigs, she was around more. When we got Luna a few years later, she seemed to gravitate toward me a bit more, probably because Luna needed so much care and special attention when she was sick.

Cosmo has not really ever liked most humans other than me and Stephanie, and later Diana once she got used to her. She famously gave Cousin Dave shit the week he watched her while Steph and I were in Hawaii, and to this day she seems to remember that. But she also isn't really scared of people. She'll check you out, but she still doesn't like most people.

Other animals have also been on her shit list. She seemed to tolerate Luna, but was extra tolerant when Luna was sick, especially in her last year when things went down hill. In fact, for days after Luna was put down, Cosmo seemed to be looking for her, walking around the house for hours. Cosmo really seemed to look out for me around that time.

And that was the thing that made her the best cat ever in some of those interim years between the relationships and the most difficult times. Cosmo knows when I'm not well physically or emotionally, and seems to pay extra attention to me.

She never really cared for her puppy namesake, even though the dog wanted to cuddle with her in the worst way. She never ran away with her, she just kind of ignored her. She definitely doesn't care for the Mattoni cats, and tends to avoid them. Emma mostly tries to ignore her, but the boys at times want to fuck with her.

But regardless, she's been a great companion now for 13 years. She's still pretty active and looks pretty good, but I also appreciate that she won't be with me forever. I think that's why I like being around her so much, because she's definitely the best pet I've ever had, and I want to make sure I've got quality time with her. Her gurgley-sounding purrs and talking are awesome.

Happy meowday, Cosmo!