Einstein

October 2005.

My friend and I stood in front of a house in Humboldt Park. We had spent the entire week hunting for an apartment, and we were pretty frustrated with the fact that every single apartment we looked at was an awful dirty dump. We didn't expect this one to be any different.

My friend rang the doorbell, and a new-agey woman answered. She introduced herself as the landlord and the current resident of the apartment we were about to look at. As soon as she let us in, the fattest cat I had ever seen wobbled over to us to greet us.

"Wow, look at him!" I said.

The landlord laughed. "I don't know how he got so fat. I've had him for only a few months. I have to find a new home for him because I'm moving in with my boyfriend, who has a dog, and they don't get along."

My friend and I walked around the apartment, which was huge, clean, and such a great deal for the price. We decided right there and then to take the place.

Just when the landlord told us we could come back the next day to sign the lease, the fat cat rubbed against my leg. I looked down at him, and then I said, "You know what? I'll take him."

"You will?"

"Sure, why not?" My cat, Kikeli, needed a buddy anyway.

"Great!"

A few moments later, my friend and I were leaving. Just as we stepped out, I turned around. "Wait. What's his name?"

"He doesn't have one, but my boyfriend calls him Einstein because he's freakishly smart."

And the rest is history.