Last night while Dave and I were catching up on the DVR, Andy called with a question only his mother could answer. “Mom, a kitten showed up on my doorstep. What should I do?” In the background I could hear the quacking – mews of a kitten mixed with loud purrs.
I know how much he loves cats. Except for the three years we lived in Hawaii, we have always had at least one cat member of our family.
When he was home in October, he went with me up to the SPCA to loo
k at dogs. Seeing the wall-to-wall cats, we decided we really wanted another cat instead of a dog. Andy and I fell in love with this little guy, who we were going to name “Ralphie” (because it looks like he shot his eye out.) When I went back, Ralphie was gone, and Purrl came home with us instead.
Knowing how irresistable a kitten can be. I told him that he really should look for its owner. He is already caring for two cats in the apartment he sublets and will be moving back home next months for an extended stay. He suggested he could leave some food for the kitten on his porch but was afraid a coyote might get it.
I pushed for finding the owner. “Okay,” he said, “I’ll call you back.”
About fifteen minutes later, he called back. He’d found the kitten’s home. While he was walking through his apartment complex he came across a guy and his kids. The fellow didn’t know where the cat lived, but the kids did. They ran off to the kitten’s home with their dad and Andy in tow. Andy said they found a door cracked open with a dish of cat food on the stoop. A very relieved young woman and toddler met him at the door.
Andy was very happy about the reunion. He definitely had to go outside his comfort zone to go door to door looking for this kitten’s home, but his desire to insure the safety of this little creature out-trumped his shyness.
I think there is a lesson there for the both of us. Sometimes leaving our comfort zones can lead us to great joy. Carrying a fuzzy kitten certainly helps…. Maybe that’s where the idea ov