My Little French Tigress.

My highschool sweetheart and I used to love watching "artsy", independent, foreign films. Our unquestioned favorite was a French film from 2001, Amélie, a romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, starring Audrey Tautou. Before we broke up to go our seperate ways (I was going off to college, she was a junior) She had overheard my mother mention that she was finally allowing us to have a cat in our home (for many years my father, sister, and I wanted one; she disliked pets.) And she gave me as a loving gift/ a symbol of our love, the cutest, most adorable female mackeral tabby kitten. I wanted to name her after her, Mary, but we thought it was too trite and unoriginal. So we went with our favorite film's title and main character's name, Amélie. A fitting name to a quirky, beautiful cat, much like the film's character. We affectionately call her "Amies", "Ahms". Regardless, I knew my love and I would never be together in the future, but I'm still grateful for her gift even though Amies has lived a life of her own, beyond her original purpose. I Remember wanting an all black cat before to name him "
Orpheus", Or a slew of other cool dark names. Yet, now looking back while presently admiring her beautiful stripes, I don't know how I could've chosen another. I will always love my little French tigress.