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SBU | Life > Experiences

My First Valentine

Ella McIntyre Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

In kindergarten, it was no secret that I desperately wanted a pet kitten. They were super cute, curious, and cuddly animals. Especially for a kindergartener who adored almost all animals (except for spiders) and cried anytime a tree was cut down. My parents were happy with their two kids, a yellow lab, and goldfish in an outdoor pond that moved to an indoor fish tank in the winter. That simply wouldn’t do for Kindergarten Ella. I begged and begged for a pet cat, until finally coming to a bet with my dad. He let me and my brother pick out horses for the Kentucky Derby every year, this year there was more on the line. If my underdog pick of a horse won the Kentucky Derby, we would go to the humane society and get a cat, if I lost no cat. 

I lost and was heartbroken. My horse got third place, and I ran up to my room sobbing. I’m talking tears and snot everywhere. I also had a loose tooth that ended up falling out because I cried so hard. After a few minutes, my mom came to check on me and devise a plan. I was to present the lost tooth to my dad and ask if that could make up for my horse losing so we could get a cat anyway. My dad said no to the cat, but that we could go to the humane society, look, and maybe start volunteering there together so I could get my fix of cat time. 

I walked into the humane society with one goal: get a girl cat to balance out the family dynamics of three boys (if you included Mack, my yellow lab) and my mom and me. I walked up to the cat carriers on display and stuck my hand out and was scratched by every girl cat on display. There was one orange boy cat in the mix, and he did not scratch me, but rather stuck a paw out and “high-fived” me. I was ecstatic, which quickly turned to over the moon when the worker asked if I wanted to hold him. From that point on my dad knew we were getting a cat. 

After a miniature flood that devastated the area, Mercury, the orange high-fiving boy cat, was eventually cleared to go home with us. Without knowing it, he signed up to be in a household full of chaos. Including me placing him with all my stuffed animals to sit through school, accidentally becoming an outdoor cat when my mom left the door open on the way to an early morning hockey game for my brother and befriending a big scary yellow lab (who was actually the sweetest). Mack endured Mercury playing with his tail and cuddling together while waiting patiently to be let back into the house, just as Mercury endured the craziness that was the kindergartener that picked him out. 

Don’t get me wrong, he of course had his own orange cat energy that made me forever grateful that I choose him out of all the girl cats and he entertained me, such as when he fell from a balcony and tried to pretend like everything was okay. He entertained me by playing with snakes, leaving dead mice at the door, and climbing the tallest trees in the backyard when any dog other than Mack existed near the house (refusing to come down until the dog was gone). Mercury also served as my first Valentine, as much as he could. I was always looking for special things to give him and convince my parents to give him a little Valentine’s Day treat. 

Mercury always had a sort of “black cat energy”, he didn’t want attention unless he did, he would constantly act sassy and like he didn’t care, but deep down he would always approach me when I went looking for him and was always there for me in ways that I never expected him to be and was so well loved by just about everybody, even as he got into his older years and banished himself to the basement at the introduction of our new dog, George, he remained tolerant and would occasionally cuddle (with the most annoyed expression). He also tolerated Mazie, a new kitten my dad had rescued for being as energetic as she is and how “old man” Mercury was.  

Unfortunately, Mercury was unable to make it to this Valentine’s Day. This past weekend, he very suddenly came into a great deal of pain, lost considerable weight, and wasn’t eating or drinking. He had been on varying amounts of medicine since I came back to school this spring. When I went home this weekend, the first place I went to was to the basement, and it was the first time Mercury didn’t come to greet me, and I knew it was time. He lived a long life, full of love and I’m so grateful to have picked him out all those years ago. I have amazing friends who are so incredibly caring and have been the absolute best this week, however, I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t going to miss my first Valentine.

Ella McIntyre

SBU '27

Ella is a member of the St. Bonaventure Her Campus Chapter. She plans on writing pieces that cover music, literature, TV and Movies, and the happenings of her life here at SBU.

Ella is a junior Inclusive Adolescent Education and English double Major. She enjoyed doing New Visions Education during her senior year of high school, which gave her a small experience of observing middle and high school classrooms. She has enjoyed exploring all of the clubs and opportunities SBU has to offer, and continues to do so by joining Her Campus, volunteering at the SPCA, as a member of the Bonaventure Education Association (BEA, and SGA representative for SBU for Equality and SBU College Democrats.

Outside of classes and Her Campus, Ella can be found studying, reading, or outside soaking up the sun (whenever it’s an option to “photosynthesize”). Ella also loves chatting with friends as a part of her not-so-quick study breaks.