"Who Rescued Who?"

“Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.”

― James Herriot, James Herriot's Cat Stories

One of the things that assured me of my love of my husband, was indeed our love of cats.  When we met, I had two. He had two.  When we joined our lives, our feline domesticuses had to adjust.  For my two and myself, the adjustment I believe was harder.  New territory, new relationships always are. My husband knows quite a bit about animals. He is a naturalist and he was always conscientious of what our brood needed.  When his two beautiful Maine Coons passed at the ages of 18 and 21 respectively, my husband was beyond heart-broken and I believed we would never have another pet in the house again.  Mitty and Mojo were his family.  The grief was felt by us both.  

Two years passed and one day, my husband emailed me pictures of four kittens who needed rescuing.  I was shocked and relieved actually.  Their eyes stared at me. Their little faces were calling out to us.  How could we pick?  Leo had long red hair and he reminded me of my ol pal, Patsy.  He looked me and I emailed King,,,"I want him!!"  I wanted him to pick one.  There she was.  "Luna."  A long gray haired, wide-eyed beauty.  She reminded me of his "Mitty."  Our decision was made.  We made the arrangements to pick them up.  It was a long week.  Saturday came and we got in the truck and headed to the Petco in Mahopac where our babies would be delivered to us.  They were coming from Kentucky and I prayed that they would be in good health when we met them.  I had never arranged to get rescued animals before and I was nervous.  I was hoping they were healthy.  I felt a great deal of trepidation knowing they had travelled so far and from what circumstances.

We waited over an hour and finally they arrived.  The cages were brought into the store and King and I rushed to the cages looking.   There they were.  Leo and Luna.  Luna and Leo.  They were in excellent health, spade, and had received their first set of vaccinations.  As I held them both, and their eyes met mine, I knew we needed them and they needed us.

The minute they got home, their joy was our joy. They found their litter box right away and their food dishes.  Until they were adjusted,  we kept them contained to one part of house and that first night, Luna and Leo slept by our heads.  Gratitude, happiness, comfort. 

It's been almost a year now since we adopted Leo and Luna.  King has so far bought more toys than they can play with and a cat tree houses. They are troublemakers! Luna jumps onto the the tub to play with the water, usually when I'm in it. She carries her toys in her mouth and delivers them to us on the bed. Leo lobbies for food exactly at six o'clock a.m. and five o'clock p.m.  They love it when King plays with them.  They crave attention. Well who doesn't?  The attention though is received on their terms.  That perhaps is an important lesson for anyone.  Live, love on the terms you are comfortable with and you will find happiness.  That's when you know you've won. Pets and their owners know the meaning of patience.  They know the meaning of teaching and education.  They teach us too...more than we realize.

They speak of animals finding their "forever homes."    As King and I watch Leo and Luna, and revel in the joy that they bring us, we know that nothing is forever.  We can only love and find love when it's presented to us.