Natalie Margasak (284)

In the final week of AP and IB testing, when a full year of regimented attendance and organization begins to dissolve into an expectant chaos, Lance the Cat made his first appearance at Central. Central’s students were dispersed across the school’s campus and hidden away in disparate lecture halls and lobbies on Lassalle’s campus cramming before their exams. Lance was first spotted by a group of students outside by the red picnic tables between the English and math hallways. Savannah Sandhaus (284), one of the first Central students to see Lance, noticed he had no collar on but allowed her and her friends to approach him. Sandhaus said “he was very sweet and ran right up to us” to receive pets and “water and goldfish which he happily took” straight from the hands of other students. Lance showed no signs of hesitation in trusting Central’s school community and “as [Sandhaus] pet him, he flopped over and soaked in the attention.”

Mr. Inamorato first met Lance when he “went down the math quarter to see Mr. Zac and he was holding the cat.” Mr. Inamarato, historically not the biggest feline fan, was married recently this past August to his wife who has been looking for an opportunity to introduce a cat into their home. Mr. Inamarato had snapped a picture of the cat and sent it to his wife asking if she was interested in a spur of the moment adoption, but Central’s notoriously spotty signal delayed the message’s delivery until Lance had already been released back by the parking lot. After receiving the go ahead to bring the cat home, Mr. Inamtrato returned outdoors to search for the stray and with the help of several students, found Lance not too far from where he was released.

Mr. Inamorato and his wife are already responsible for two dogs, a golden retriever and goldendoodle, who each has owned for a long time. Lance will be the first pet that they welcome into their home together. However, before Lance could be introduced to the two dogs, Mr. Inammorato took him to visit Central graduate and practicing veterinarian, Karan Patel (268). Lance had eight ticks, a wound, and Patel discovered after an x-ray that his leg, previously broken, had healed on its own. 

Though a stray cat with a painful history as made evident through his visit to the vet, Lance is extremely affectionate and does not shy away from being held, wrapped up in blankets, and tucked in between two rambunctious dogs on the couch. Mr. Inamarato smiles as he passes his phone across the tech-help desk, a video plays showing Lance standing his ground behind a sliding glass door as he meets hihis new roommates who bark and paw at the door. He seems unfazed, this comfortable confidence is one of Mr. Inamoratos favorite things about him. 

Some of the excitement that comes from the spotting of a stray cat comes from the mystery of their origin. Where are they coming from? Are the leaving behind other people or a kind of unknown independence? What has made the animal choose to appear here, at this exact moment? In the case of Lance, he could not have materialized at a more perfect moment for the Central community. As the year comes to a close and Central relinquishes its seniors to a tumultuous world full of unknowns, we can only hope that we can weather uncertainty and find our places similarly to Lance.