A small orange cat plushie is the one thing I’ve had my whole life. The day I was born, November 18, 2004, my dad wandered down to the hospital gift shop. He wanted to find something to show my mom how proud he was of her for going through childbirth. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something orange that caught his attention. A small stuffed cat in pristine condition. The cat looks almost identical to our cat, Tuesday. The perfect gift to give his exhausted wife. He happily purchased the cat, ready to give it to my mom. Gift in hand, my dad went back up to the room to give it to my mom. When he walked in, her eyes lit up with joy. “I saw this and immediately thought of Tuesday,” my dad said, handing the cat to my mom. She smiled wide and held it close to her. Not long after, I started to fuss in the bassinet next to the hospital bed. In an attempt to comfort me, my mom placed the plushie in the bassinet with me. Almost immediately, the fussing stopped. My parents looked at each other and smirked. “Guess it’s hers now,” my dad chuckled. From that day on, I had a sidekick.

2 years later, and the plushie and I have been inseparable. So inseparable that I even gave her a name, “Kitty orange.” Kitty Orange and I did everything together. We ate together, played together, and took naps together. Anywhere I was she was not far behind. May it be breakfast, playtime, or naptime, she was by my side.

Flash forward to my first love, Eli. The trance he had on me seemed to be unbreakable. Despite him living in California, I was head-over-heels in love with him. So when he ripped my heart out of my chest, I had never felt more alone. As the years grew on, the less I needed to rely on Kitty Orange. But if I needed her anytime, it was definitely then. After my parents picked me up off the ground, sobbing like a mourning widow, they finally got me into bed. Instinctively, I reached for Kitty Orange and held her close. She always knew how to comfort me when I was at my lowest. I cried myself to sleep that night, with Kitty Orange held tightly to my heaving body.

I have always been a people pleaser. I continuously put other people’s feelings before mine, no matter how badly it hurt me. All I wanted was to be loved and appreciated. Therefore, people could just walk over me. As I’ve gotten older, I have been finding ways to combat this. I’ve grown emotionally exhausted and I have to do something about it. Despite all the people I have let walk all over me, Kitty Orange has always been there.