Two years ago, I was cleaning in the middle room of the front building at Cats Are Us. I usually had a job of cleaning in the back building, but poop is poop, no matter what room you’re in. We were short handed, and I volunteered to take on an extra space.
Cats Are Us was always therapy for me. Dogwood had lost one of it's own just a few months before, our beloved Pearl, to Feline Leukemia. Being at the shelter was comforting to me. My little girl used to put her little pink paw on my cheek , almost as a reassurance that whatever life was bringing us at that moment, that everything would be alright. I missed her terribly, and I longed for that comforting touch.
We had adopted little Bart after Pearl left us. He was a tiny thing when he first came to Dogwood--but we soon remedied that!! But he was still the lone feline of our little fur covered oasis. I had always hated the fact that Feline Leukemia had kept Pearl a lonely kitty. Better Half and I had discussed the possibility of getting Bart a friend, but hadn't done anything about it.
As I worked, in that middle room, I kept hearing a little voice chattering away
behind me. I was reminder of sweet Girlsy, the little talker who used to keep
me company in the back room at Cats Are Us.
She too had crossed the Rainbow Bridge that year.
This room held many felines, and after hearing the talk for awhile, I was a man on a mission to find it. I finally looked to a large cage that sat in the back of the room. One dark,
fluffy boy who sat on the bottom of the enclosure looked at me wide eyed, as if to say, “It wasn’t me pal.”
But I heard the chatter monkey again, and bent down to look into the darker top of the cage. On a high perch in the upper corner of the cage sat a
beautiful white feline with faint orange tinted fur, orange tipped ears,
gorgeous blue eyes…and a very active mouth.
I opened the door very carefully as not to scare the little one. But I shouldn't have worried. The white beauty sprung into my arms and began to purr like
a boat motor. He curled into my arms, cupping his head under my chin as I
rubbed his belly. I was elated. He looked so much like my lost baby, with his white fur and blue eyes.
Then, out of nowhere, he looked at me with those beautiful
blue eyes of his… and placed one tiny little pink footed paw on my cheek.
The tears welled up in my eyes, and I felt a tiny piece of my heart revive. He just held that paw on my face, saying, “It’s
OK”.
Needless to say, he became both my third shadow, and Bart's new best pal at Dogwood. We named him Sebastian, and he has both comforted and entertained us ever since. Today marks two years since that little white and orange soul reminded me that, even though we lose someone special, we can still find the ability to love others.
Happy Birthday my sweet little water loving boy!!! May God bless you as you have blessed me!
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