The world is a bewildering place for small mammals like you, me, and Colonel Peabody.
People shout. Mercy gets lost in a pile of old papers. Boar’s Head announces that liverwurst “won’t be available for purchase or consumption, ever again.”
(Peabody would have been OK if it were available for purchase but not consumption. Peabody could have lived with just admiring the liverwurst, perhaps covering it in Mod Podge and displaying it in a curio cabinet. Alas, the world is a bewildering place.)
But Tabby’s Place is a world within a world. And that is why you, Peabody, and I are here.
No matter what happens “out there,” we get to build a world where there are no outcasts. We get to wrap our arms around the un-hugged. We get to wrap our lives around the little, the lonely, and the leaky. (No judgement here, Olive.)
We get to remember that we are all little and lonely and leaky.
If we forget, someone with a liverwurst temper will remind us.
It can seem small, this work of “saving cats from hopeless situations.” We are mopping floors and rubbing appetite stimulant goo into elderly ears. We are warming formula for friends the size of gerbils, and changing bandages on frail pretzel legs. We are kissing one forehead at a time.
Make no mistake. This is revolutionary business.
We are telling the world that love is still a worthy cause. We are dismantling the idea that anyone is disposable.
We are hog-tying the word “hopeless” and feeding it squeeze-treats until it is full.
We are taking care of each other, starting with the neediest “other.” We are finding out that we are all needy, all the time.
Yes, we are building a world within a world, where a rumpled colonel like Peabody is precious. Overlooked diamonds like Boa and Adder are adopted. A weary wanderer like Lucinda finds a conspiracy of kindness. A smidgen with no name becomes Berry, the one and only Berry: beloved, adored, and planning his next shenanigan as we speak.
This is how we change the world.
Exhibit A: February:
Arrived: Shania, Cinderblock, Bob, Peter, Stella, Budgie (and her soon-to-be-born kittens), Stork, Savannah, Nelson
Adopted: Snickerdoodle & Lark (together); Boa & Adder (together); Lucy & Claudius (together); Marco; Baby Yoda; Chromium; Suede & Cashmere (together); Scooby & Shortbread (together); Bing; Doury; Astro
Returned: Finch
Promoted to the Lobby: Colonel Peabody
Promoted to the Offices of Jonathan the “Executive Director” and Marcia the Actual Executive Director: Gallium
Promoted to the Lounge: Ruchi
Promoted to the Medical Office: Baby
Promoted to Heaven: Finch, Sweetie
Stuff We Learned: It turns out, liverwurst is not required. Neither is luck, although we’ll take all the four-leaf clovers March can offer.
Top o’ the mornin’ to ya, world. Tabby’s Place has gold to share.