Thank You, Buttons

Being a senior in college is undoubtedly a busy time. My schedule is filled with balancing school, work, an internship, and much more.

With so much weighing on me, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed. As I lay in bed at night, I can feel the overwhelming pressures of life lying on top of me, until I wake up and realize it's just my fat cat sitting on my chest. 

Moving miles away from home to go to school was a big and stressful change, but whenever I come home, my cat Buttons is somehow always sitting and waiting on the porch of our house.

He always greets me with an annoyed look on his face, almost like he is asking me “Where have you been? You were supposed to feed me hours ago.” 

My family originally adopted Buttons from a local shelter when I was in the 5th grade.

The shelter told us that Buttons was born in a dumpster, where he was found with his siblings. 

My little brother Jacob picked Buttons because he seemed to be the most playful kitten, which is funny because Buttons grew up to be far from playful. 

Me and my brother had so much excitement to bring home our first pet. Little did I know at the time that Buttons would play a huge role in my life. 

During high school, I struggled a lot with academics. I would come home and spend hours on my computer doing homework. 

I would work for so long that Buttons learned how to unplug my computer by himself. Afterward, he would stare straight at me with his signature grumpy face.

He also learned how to open doors by himself, inviting himself into different rooms of our house whenever he wanted. 

Buttons became my little shadow; he would lay by the pool to watch me swim, lay on the chair next to me while I did work, and sometimes he would even come on walks with me around the block. 

He would follow me around with his annoyed face like what he was doing was a chore. 

With his shining personality, Buttons became quite a character with our friends and family. 

At birthday parties, sleepovers, and holidays, Buttons sits, staring at the chaos of it all. 

If you were too wrapped up in the moment, you might miss him sitting on the ground glaring at you. 

It was hard to leave my cat when I went off to college. Who else was going to give me disapproving looks while I brushed my teeth? 

But during college, I got wrapped up in it all. I was dealing with the stress of moving away, school,  finances, and my job. It started to take a toll.

It came to a point where every day felt like it went by so fast. It didn't feel like there were enough hours in the day to get everything done, which stressed me out even more. 

It became so overwhelming that when I came home, I almost forgot about my grumpy cat until I walked up to my front door to see Buttons sitting on the porch with his disappointed stare.

Photo courtesy of Abigail Wall.

After months of stress, I was delighted to see that grumpy face again and I sat and watched the cars drive by with him. At that moment, I forgot about all the things that were stressing me out.

My life had been so chaotic that everything seemed to pass me by in a blur. Buttons taught me it’s important to stop once in a while to appreciate life. 

I was used to going through life at home, laughing at the little moments Buttons would unplug my computer or cover the TV screen with his body, but after moving away, I didn’t have that fuzzy reminder anymore.

As college students, so many things are being thrown our way into our lives right now. It can be super exciting but also quite stressful. 

Sometimes stopping to smell the roses may help keep us from not getting caught up with this chaos we call life. Every pet can teach us that in their own special way. 

They are like reminders to enjoy the small moments in life, which we may forget. 

Whenever I feel the pressures of life getting to be too much, my cat Buttons is always there to remind me to take things slow. I like to think he knows that as well. 

Everyone needs to find their Buttons— a small reminder to just stop for a minute and appreciate life's little things. Because if you get too caught up in the chaos of life you may forget a fat, grumpy cat is sitting right behind you.