Annie Arrival Day

 There aren’t many things that I’d go back and re-do in life because I can see how most mistakes and/or difficulties have ultimately worked for good. But since becoming a cat-owner, I often replay an afternoon where I made a very insensitive friendship error and wish I could go back and right my wrong. Here is what happened:

 

I stopped by a friend’s house on my way home from work. She and her kids were very upset because one of their cats had gone missing. They were out looking for the cat, fearing that it had gotten lost or injured, and my friend asked if I would join the search.

 

I told her that I needed to get home—that the cat had probably gone off to die alone. And then I left. [In my defense, the cat was sick, and I knew that animals sometimes DID want to die alone.]

 

I cringe just writing this story. It’s a terrible confession! 😳

 

You see, I had NO IDEA just how important those little goobers could be to someone’s life—just how much love one could hold for an animal that can be aloof or loving, weird and unpredictable.   

 

But then Annie and the Alphabets showed up one year ago today and changed my life (and my parents’ lives, too)! While all of the Alphabets (Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Gamma) have found other homes, Annie has made her home with us, and now I can’t imagine life without her. She scratches me and bites me, wakes me up early in the morning, requests food throughout the day, goes in and out of the house countless times a day, chews up boxes and leaves little bits of paper all over my floor, sits where she’s not supposed to sit, and won’t let me rub her soft belly without a fight…but my goodness do I love that cat…and if she disappeared, I would be highly distraught. I would ask everyone I knew to help me look for my mean-sweet Annie Mae, and I would be so sad until we found her.

 

Thankfully, on that horrible afternoon when I was a jerk, my friend found her cat hiding in a drawer. My searching would not have helped the end-result, but it certainly would have helped morale and been the right thing to do. I understand that now, thanks to Annie, and how much love I feel for her today, on her one-year arrival day.  

 

So…Happy Annie Arrival Day, everyone!

 

May today be a day when you vow not to be an insensitive jerk like me…

 

Amen.