Lookin' for Miss Lilly Lee

Do you ever get unduly attached to a certain part of your morning routine? When I first moved to D.C. I used to walk down U street to work, and so every morning I'd pass by the flower shop on the corner of U and 11th. If anyone is familiar with the place, they are probably also familiar with the brown tabby that spends most of its time hanging out in the window display. Under a sign reading “Hi, name is Lilly Lee. Come in and say hi to me,” the furry lady seemed to live only to sprawl out on her back in a miniature wooden wheel barrow, feline nethers up in the air (it would be too easy to make a pussy joke here,) and always looked so blissful that I would feel a little better about starting my day.

But then I started taking T street to work and didn’t go by the place for a couple months. The last couple times I did walk by, though, there was no sign posted and no napping cat to be found. Should I be concerned?

There was a year or so in high school when I would walk by the same guy at the same time every morning on my way to school. I could tell how early or late (usually late) I was by how far from my house I was when I saw him and even though we never spoke I started to feel like he was my friend. So when I stopped seeing him for a couple weeks I actually got worried. Had he taken ill? Had he got hit by a car, perhaps because he was craning his head to see if I would be coming up the road one of those days when I was running really behind schedule? Truthfully I’d be surprised if I had ever even bleeped on his radar, but it didn’t stop me from being relieved when he finally reappeared.

Such relief has yet to come with Lilly Lee. I’ve actually gone out of my way a couple times to go take a look at her, but she’s nowhere to be found. Like Puff the magic dragon felled by little Jackie Paper’s tragic ascent to maturity (or crippling drug abuse,) I almost feel that my desire to walk down a quieter street caused a cat I've never even met to die. It might sound irrational, but I was also the kind of kid that thought the volume of my applause actually had a hand in reviving Tinkerbell.

Irrational guilt aside, is anyone out there in TNG-ville familiar with the cat in question? Have you seen her lately? I know that I could easily go in the store and ask, but I’d rather let my imagination run than know for sure.