I created a Tumblr blog once called “Not Afraid to Write.” It has been in existence for almost 10 years, and doesn’t have a single post. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about me.

But if you want to know more, read on….

I was born in the 1970’s, which makes me part of Generation X. There’s a picture of me somewhere in plaid corduroy bell bottoms to prove it. But other than that, my childhood outside Buffalo, NY, was lovely, filled with a great family, the occasional blizzard, time spent between books and the woods, and my first calico kitten (“Sassy”). But the country life is hard, and country cars are fast, and we didn’t have her long.

Enter the 80’s. This was the time of cultural icons that defied explanation, and which evoke unreasonable nostalgia to this day–like leg warmers and Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Cats”. My family got more cats, one of them another calico kitten who liked to sleep on my bed. Meanwhile, I saw “Cats” three times.

I started the 90’s in college and ended them in medical school. I had my first job. I almost got married. I adopted my first cat of my very, very own–a calico kitten. She seemed lonely so I got her a friend. They stayed with me through medical school, residency, and fellowship, culminating with a career in academic pediatric anesthesiology. Somewhere in there I got married for real, had two kids, and found myself with more cats. They were never lonely.

I also knit! Because cats and yarn are the perfect match.

Then one day in 2011 I woke up with a headache that never went away. (Did anyone warm me in med school that “chronic daily migraine” was a thing? No, they did not.) That was the end of my medical career, although it took me a while to admit it. I had good days and bad days. On bad days, I had to fill my time with other things, so I started writing—often about cats. I volunteered in animal rescue. I started fostering kittens. One thing led to another, and since then I have had anywhere from 4 to 7 cats. Truly, my husband is a saint.

Looking back, there are many times at which I also had dogs. I like dogs okay. But not as much as cats.