Cornelia Street

People often don't think of what it means to have a small soul lock onto yours. The immediate connection you get when you first lay eyes on each other, and the trust that builds from the initial, "Hi, how are you? My name is..." But that connection is only built with humans. The connections that go far and beyond are the connections you make with souls that can't even speak to you.

This particular connection was one that started off with a simple text message from a friend of mine. She kindly sent me a link to a post that was made on Facebook. My initial thought was: "it's probably a meme, or perhaps a piece of furniture that I can buy cheap and redo, or maybe it's some stupid thing someone ignorantly shared to show the world how much of an 'intellectual' they are and force their opinions on things they don't understand on you." But alas, it was none of the above. When I clicked on the link it showed a small, sweet kitten that couldn't be more than 4 weeks old. The post was from a girl I knew back home that I hadn't spoken to in months, maybe even years. She said she found her crying, hungry, and alone in a dumpster behind a store. Without even a second thought, I immediately messaged her and said three simple words. "I want her."

It was within a week that I was on the drive back home. My car was old and beat up and the weather outside was almost in the 80s so I had my windows rolled down and music blaring trying to think of a name for this small four-legged creature that I was about to bring into my home. All names that circled through my head did not match up with the expected personality I saw in this new pet of mine. Nor did anything actually stick out to me. As I pulled into the gas station that met directly in the middle of where we both lived, I saw her exit her vehicle to greet me. We engaged in small conversation, catching up and seeing where our lives had taken us. But I was not interested in the conversation. I was interested in what she kept in the backseat of her SUV, waiting for me to bring her to her new home. The second she brought her out for me to meet her for the very first time, my heart immediately filled with joy and love. A feeling that had been empty from my heart for awhile now. Without any hesitation, I took her in my arms and embraced her for what felt like forever, and she embraced my back, purring into my chest and letting out small meows as if she were trying to say hello to me. Attempting not to cry in front of this girl, I graciously thanked her and got in my vehicle to journey home with my new cat. She was small and sweet. Loving, yet a bit standoffish. Which I expected from a kitten that had no idea what was going on. The sound of the many cars on the highway frightened her and made her cower down into my thigh to try and hide from them. The radio played softly in the background as she did this. All the while, I glanced back and forth from the road and her, trying to think of a name for her. Then as she began to fall asleep, a song from an artist that enjoyed very much started playing. The song Cornelia Street began to play, and as it did, it immediately hit me and caused me to yell out her new name. "Cornelia!"