second chances

Yesterday my aunt had a big birthday bash with all her friends present in the solarium of the hospital. My kids recorded themselves singing happy birthday to her and we sent some March kid pics for her to enjoy. She is getting stronger, getting mobile and she wants to get the heck out of dodge. That she can enjoy the company of friends and festivities to celebrate her birth means more to me than anything. So many people love and adore her. I only hope that as I age, I too will find myself surrounded by the love of friends and family. To have friends you must be a friend. And I haven’t always been a friend. Probably not even most of the time. My aunt inspires me to to be a better person, to live life to its fullest and to give to people, always. Happy Birthday, Ginger!

Three years ago we went to the animal shelter to let Teegan pick out a kitten. He fell in love with one, I fell in love with another. My kitten was older and insanely sweet. I had no intention of leaving the shelter with two cats but I couldn’t leave her behind. I gave my hubby those doey eyes that he can’t resist and we left with two new cats. I named mine Anna Natalia of the Woodlands. And Teegan named his Sticky Bubblegum Duong. Apparently I have a thing or two to learn about prophetic names. I mocked Teegan about his dumb cat name but clearly he had it right. Anna Natalia of the Woodlands eventually became “of the Woodlands”, disappearing at some unknown time in some unknown place over 4 weeks ago. Naming your cat “Sticky Bubblegum” definitely has more “staying power”.

We had what turned out to be bad intel for days that our cat was hanging out at a home a few blocks away. Finally, frustrated that we could never see her to determine if it was, in fact, our cat we bought and set a live trap. The same day we set the live trap, my boys’ friend showed up at our door claiming he saw our cat on the other side of our neighborhood in the yard of an abandoned house. We sent a search party but came up dry. to be honest, I didn’t put much faith in his sighting. We had lots of sightings of what we thought was our cat somewhere else entirely and cats don’t roam much. The next morning, the live trap had, indeed, caught a big grey cat but it really didn’t look like our girl. We hoped, we tried to convince ourselves (a month alone outside for an indoor cat can certainly change a cat, right?), we even brought it home and let it loose in one of our bedrooms. But it didn’t look – or act – like our cat. We finally had to admit it was not Anna which basically meant our best hope was dashed.

Moving onto other plans, a cat showed up on our animal shelter list who looked just like Anna and I made some calls and arranged to go in on Saturday morning, after breakfast, to do an ID. Friday night, probably mostly to appease my broken heart, Tony passed out a few more flyers and set up a live trap on the side of our neighborhood that my boys’ friend claims he saw her.  I had essentially no hope but it was the only lead left and it felt good to at least be trying. Giving up wasn’t something I was ready to do yet even though I felt, in my heart, that I’d never see my cat again.

Saturday morning, Tony left to pick up some breakfast and came home with my kitty, henceforth known as Anna Natalia of the Bradleys.

(anna yesterday – it was nearly impossible to get her picture because she would not stay far enough away from me!)

She had scrapped the fur and skin off her face above both eyes trying to get out of the live trap so it was hard to look past those bloody wounds but it really really looked like her. We took her into Addy’s room and let her out and she jumped into our arms, purring away, licking us and I cried, a lot. My girl was home. It seemed implausible. Impossible. Incomprehensible. All this time? All those signs? As much as I was sure, I couldn’t shake the unlikelihood of it all. I checked to see that she had her claws, like Anna did, and didn’t find any and my heart sunk. Even the vet thought she was a declawed cat. Turned out her claws were so incredibly ground down that they were just hard to find. Whew.

So she got a temporarily clean bill of health. She’ll have to go back in two months for more testing but so far, so good. Her coat was beautiful, she had lost some weight (at least 5 lbs) which means she’s now a healthy weight (snort) and she didn’t have any bite marks or cuts other than what she had done in the live trap. And boy was she happy to be home. My dog was so so happy to see her again. I didn’t realize how depressed she had been this last month until Anna came home. She has given Anna multiple baths andsnuggled her any time she sees her.

(These are old pictures of Anna and Lilo right after we adopted Lilo. Basically this is the same scene yeseterday. They have always been the best of friends)

I spent the day watching her mannerisms  and examining her every feature, still unable to really wrap my mind around the fact that she was home. She is one weird cat and I had forgotten all the very unique things she does. I forgot about how she has all this short hair around her shoulders that makes her look like a lion (you can really see it at the top pic of her and Lilo). I forgot how she has to lick three times and then tries to chew on you, rinse and repeat. I forgot the distinct sound of her cry. I forgot about all the curly thick hair she has on her belly that I cried over when they shaved her for her spay surgery. I love that curly undercoat. At 2am when I saw her sucking on our blanket, I knew unequivocally that this nightmare was over. 🙂

(this is a 2 year old picture too – I was about to take pictures at 2am last night! But basically she stands and kneads and sucks. So bizarre.)

Yesterday was a day of second chances. A reminder that life is full of hope, even when it feels hopeless. Things can and do turn around. It can turn out all right even when life, otherwise, has felt pretty rough and like a dark cloud follows. I am not destined for bad things to happen to me or those I love. I am not out of luck. I am not going to just face one tragedy and crisis after another (which, honestly, is pretty much how I felt for the entire year of 2009 and I felt like 2010 was shaping up to be the same). Things can turn around.  Wonderful things can happen. Yin and yang. Life can be very very hard but it won’t always be very very hard.

Easter is about renewal, whether you are Christian or Secular. And this Easter I looked around at the amazing abundance of wild flowers (I may be obsessed with the wildflowers)  and the newborn kittens in my room and see renewal and birth all around me. This week I start a new chapter of my life, full of promise and hope. I have my aunt’s slowly increasing strength and vitality and my kitty’s presence as a reminder that the tide has turned and good things are all around me.