Eight o'clock on a May morning, and Mary, my 17-year-old daughter, was in our study upstairs. It had served as her classroom ever since schools moved to remote learning due to the COVID-19.
From the kitchen, I listened to the sound of her tapping on the laptop or her communicating in their Google Meet session s with her friends and teachers. I resisted the desire to check on her. Way too often, I would find Mary texting friends and commenting on their Snapchat and Instagram posts about the fun they were having together. I felt it safer not to care. After all, we'd barely left the house for 10 weeks straight.
"Mom, everyone is hanging out today!" Mary's voice came from upstairs. "Why can't I?"I went up the stairs. Mary was lying on the floor, her laptop, school iPad and cell phone in front of her. "It's unfair, " she said. "I have no one I can be with. I can't wait until I'm 18. and can do what I want. "
We'd had this conversation before. Still, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I was sick of isolating(隔离) too. Even though Mary and I were at home together more than we had been in years, we might as well have been living in separate worlds.
"Wanna watch Netflix later?" I asked. "Bake some cookies?" "No, thanks. " Mary shook her head, as if the idea of doing something together was quite beyond her. I was used to Mary's rejection, but it still hurt. Teenage independence is healthy, but I worried that if I didn't find a way to bond with my girl soon, I might never be close with her again. She'd be 18 in the fall and had already convinced herself she didn't need me anymore. Maybe she was right. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to reach her. That evening, I logged onto Facebook and saw a friend's family playing with their new kitten together. My mind went back to the difficult period when I was in high school and our family moved to the new city. It was a gray tabby(虎斑猫) with which Mom surprised me that brightened my days and got me through that difficult, lonely time.
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150左右；2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
It suddenly occurred to me that having a cat in our house might help.
We immediately decided to take the cat from the shelter home.
