The Influence of a Cat

In life there are many things that shape our identities. Those things that shape us in our youth follow us into adulthood and become part of our legacy. As a child I was enthralled by animals, especially cats. Growing up with cats has changed my life in a positive way and cats will be a part of my life forever. Both of my parents grew up with cats and this tradition has been passed down to my household as well. I think the history of the domestication of cats is significant to my identity because I know I would not be the same person I am today without the cats I have grown up with. The domestication of cats is indicative of my identity and has foraged my personal heritage. To begin, both of my parents grew up with cats. My mother had a black cat named KC as a child and into her adult life. My mother and her brother had a black cat follow them home from preschool one day and immediately my mother fell in love. She was only four at the time, but this started a love that would never fade and would become part of her personal heritage and passed on to that of her family. My grandmother let my mother and her bother keep the stray cat. She too is a cat lover and had grown up with cats. My mother named the cat KC, which was short for kitty cat. She would dress the cat in a bonnet and push it up and down the street in a baby stroller. She would fight with her brother at night for the cat to sleep in her room and not his. The cat truly had a special bond with my mother. She grew up with KC, she told her secrets as child and confided in her. KC grew older as my mother grew into adulthood. She lived a long and full life. KC lived until my mother was twenty years old; she was seventeen when she passed away. In these seventeen years my mother progressed from elementary school to junior high school to high school and into college. She married my father and created her life