https://vimeo.com/534752253
In late 2019, I was in the middle of a very dark season of depression in my life, something I've battled with for years. I was feeling especially lonely. I was 23 at the time living in a 1 bedroom, 2nd floor apartment. I was a medical assisting student nearing the end of my schooling. It was October and I had recently begun my 3 months of clinicals, where I worked (unpaid) at a doctors office from 7:50AM to sometimes 5:00PM, five days a week. I was also working 2 jobs at the time; part time at a Christian Bookstore, and part time at Chick fil A. If you've experienced depression, you know it sucks every bit of energy out of you as it is.. but being a full-time clinical extern and working 2 jobs on top of that was the most drained and completely exhausted, both physically and mentally, that I could have been. It didn't help that it was getting cold outside, and seasonal depression is often a worsening issue for me as well.
The Christian Book Store I was working at was in the process of closing down permanently, as were all the other locations in the company. This was extremely emotionally painful for me. I worked there with some people I had gotten very close to, who had played a large part in helping me maintain my struggling mental health. It was so saddening to see the store I'd made years of memories in slowly emptying out, with the big red and yellow "STORE CLOSING" and major sale signs hanging everywhere you looked.
What made this season about the worst it could have been for me was the unfortunate timing that the day after the store was officially closed for good, my family was moving out of state. I had lived about 20 mins away from my dad, my brother and our sweet puppy, Luci. There was a variety of reasons why they were moving, and why I needed to stay, but we are all very close and this was very difficult for me. I also was very aware of the fact that Luci was the one and only source of pet-therapy I had in my life, which truly helped (more than I realized) to alleviate some of the pain of a depressive episode or season. I was concerned for my own wellbeing, having to say goodbye to my job and my friends there, and my family and my sweet dog. I tried to mentally prepare myself to be more lonely than ever before, but there's almost no way to do that. Especially when depression had been weighing so heavily on me for so long.
This is where the story changes.
One morning I had gotten up very early, still dark outside, because I needed to drive into the city for an all-day computer class related to my clinical training. I was running a couple minutes behind, and when I had reached about half way down the steps of the 2nd floor of my apartment, I was eye-level with a little section of the floor I was descending from right in front of me, and there was a beautiful little gray cat sitting there looking at me. I had seen this cat and at least one or two others around the apartment complex off and on, and they would just hang out in the hall or on the roof and carry on with their business. Well I saw her and it was so unexpected, and it made me so happy. I said "hi baby! Sweet little girl..." (she just seemed like a girl to me but I didn't actually know if she was or not) and had to keep going down to my car so I'd be on time to class. But I very distinctly remember thinking these exact words to myself seconds after that little encounter as I walked towards the parking lot, "oh my gosh.. I love animals." And it's true! I love animals with my whole heart. This was a very sweet little therapeutic moment for me. But anyways, the day went on and I forgot about the whole thing.
Until that night.
It was maybe 8 or 9PM, and I was quick-thawing something to cook myself for dinner. I had the hot water of my kitchen sink on full blast, and went to sit in the living room while I waited. The second I sat down in the living room, I heard a very faint, high pitched noise. My ears tuned in a little bit more and I realized what I thought it may have sounded like, but I went in the kitchen to turn the loud running water off so I could have a closer listen. I guess I knew if it was anything interesting I'd want to remember it, so I pulled out my phone and started recording right before I listened again. Then I heard it loud and clear: the sweetest little "meow." I put together a little video that shows that very moment, as well as the ones to follow.
More than ANYTHING on the planet, I wanted to adopt this precious baby right then and there. But I was only working part time at 2 jobs, one which was about to close permanently, pet rent was very expensive where I was living, and money was an issue. My heart was so broken that night. I cried my eyes out. I didn't let her in the apartment just yet because I wanted to make sure she wasn't dangerous.. but as you can see in the video, she, for whatever reason, really, really wanted to come inside. She just paced back and forth, rubbing against the door to the balcony continuously. Part of me was really confused how she even got up there, being that I was on the second floor. I took care of her the best I could when the whole next day went by and I saw she had no intention of leaving. I bought her a little bed and some cat food and put it out there with some water. I fed her morning and night for about 4 days.
The entire time I looked for her owner. I put out signs asking the neighbors, I looked on the county's lost & found pet page, I even posted her picture and an in-depth description of her on the page. I didn't feel comfortable having an animal shelter come take her away, even if it was a no- kill shelter. She deserved to be loved in the strongest form as soon as possible. But not one person claimed her. I started thinking about how realistic the possibility may have been for me to adopt her. I knew that money was an issue, but I had some savings. I eventually realized I just needed to trust the Lord to provide for every need in upcoming finances, and that it was more important that she had a loving home.
My friend and I took her to the vet to make sure she was healthy and not micro-chipped, and she was in perfect health and not micro-chipped by any previous owners. I kept her with me in my apartment, hesitant to name her yet, because I still needed to wait for the county's lost & found pet policy to take place; if nobody claims the pet in 14 days, whoever found the pet can legally keep it. These were the longest, most nerve-wracking two weeks of my life. At least 3 people reached out to me thinking she might be theirs, but it turned out she didn't belong to anyone.
And finally, on the 15th day, she was mine. And she became my fur baby angel sent from Heaven and unofficial emotional support animal all in one. I decided to name her Piper, because she has such insanely beautiful green eyes, and 'Pippin,' I read, was a type of green apple. So I thought "hm, I love that.. what sounds like 'Pippin' but is more fitting for a girl?" And Piper fit her absolutely perfectly.
She was the best thing that could have possibly happened to me in that season of my life. It's funny to think back on the long, sad days I spent doing everything to look for her owner, and to think the whole time God was smiling down on me telling me, "No, child, she's for you!" And she was. The store I worked at went out of business, my only family and our dog moved 11 hours out of state, and Piper kept me from feeling the deep loneliness I feared. She made the remainder of that dark and cold season so much warmer and sweeter, even during the lowest lows.
The thing that seals this miracle up perfectly for me is that I was not even supposed to have moved into that exact apartment when I had moved in a few months prior. I was scheduled, papers signed and everything, to move into the apartment across the hall! There was a mix up at the very last minute and I landed in the very apartment where this little angel found me. I may have rescued her, but truly, she rescued me as well. It was a Devine pairing of two lonely beings, both longing to love and to be loved, and I credit and thank none other than God Himself.