Hi, I’m Briana! Not Piper. Piper’s my cat. People (rightfully) get that confused all the time. So now that we have that straightened out, let me tell you the story of Piper.
When I was in my last semester of college, I was struggling a bit. I was working 50+ hours/week and going to school full-time and had no social life or friends outside of my roommate. So my super smart Mama suggested I get a cat.
At the time I was on Winter break at school but taking a Winter session class so I would go to work for a few hours, leave in the middle of the day to attend my class, and come back to close at the bank I worked at. Except one day, instead of attending class, I went to Petsmart and fell in love with a feisty black kitten from animal control whom they called Rebekah.
Yep, Piper used to be Becky.
I’m not saying I suggest this method of attending your college classes but… I spent the next two weeks attending my class only on test days and the rest of the days I left work to go home and play with Piper. (My Mama also suggested her name after hearing Piper wouldn’t “pipe down”… Piper has always been a talker.)
Anyway. I treated that cat like a dog from the get-go. She had a harness and leash we would go for walks on, I took her with me when I visited my parents or friends out of town, I called her by her name… I take the credit (or blame) for most of her oddness.
Piper became my best friend. I practiced my speeches for my public speaking class on her, she told me about her day, we snuggled every night, she went to work with me at the bank on multiple occasions, she lay across my homework as I attempted to complete it… we were pretty inseparable. Which I guess makes me the crazy cat lady at, what was I? 21? No shame.
Eventually, Piper is who gave me the courage to leave Montana. I had never planned on leaving Montana and the idea terrified me but I figured as long as I had Piper, I would be okay. And as life continued to change, as life does, Piper was my constant. Usually a pain in the butt, but a constant pain in the butt.
Then on August 1, 2017 Piper disappeared while I was at work. I got home, called her, and immediately knew something wasn’t right. I remember texting Bri “Piper is missing so I’m telling you because then she’ll come home and we can laugh about what an overbearing Mama I am”. Except, we didn’t laugh because Piper didn’t come home.
I was supposed to be Montana bound the next day to spend time with my Dad and attend my hometown’s little rodeo and my 10 year high school reunion but… how was I supposed to do that without Piper? I looked everywhere for that cat. And I cried. Lord, how I cried.
I mourned the loss of that cat so much, I can’t even put it into words. I posted on my social media accounts that she was missing and if you saw me, not to bring it up because if I happened to not be crying at that moment, mentioning her would immediately change that. I cried myself to sleep every night for weeks. The “not knowing” felt like it was slowly killing me.
After a few weeks, my roommate/friend called me to let me know the vet’s office she worked at had kittens that needed a home, and did I want one? No, no I did not. So driving home one evening, after making multiple U-turns, I found myself at the vet’s office, holding a kitten while saying “No, I don’t want him, I don’t want another black cat and I don’t want a boy cat.” So I went home with Ernest, a little black male kitten.
And a couple of weeks after that, five weeks to the day since her disappearance, Piper walked up to me in the back yard. Limping, skin and bones, but alive.
Piper has been part of all of my life changes since I was 21 years old. And I’m grateful she continues to be part of my life as we pursue happiness together.
Even if she is a pain in the butt.
“When I look into the eyes of an animal I do not see an animal. I see a living being. I see a friend. I see a soul.”
-A.D. Williams
