“We are stardust, we are golden,
and we’ve got to get ourselves
back to the garden.”
– Joni Mitchell

“What she said!” – Canary and Archer

Named for birds, Canary and Archer had sweeter voices than any folk singer. Like warblers in winter, they were kittens out of season. They came to us motherless in December, and we wrapped them in our wings.

Like humble house sparrows, “plain” kittens are often underestimated. But the smallest brown tabby can fill the sky with song. If given the chance, they could bring peace from Laurel Canyon to little old New Jersey.

For now, Archer and Canary would content themselves with growing up loved, plump, and strong. Surprising no one, the fledglings took wing for a forever home. With tears and cheers, we kissed our winter kittens goodbye and wished them a long life of springtimes.

But this was just the bridge in our shared song.

And not all bridges can be crossed on foot.

The call came from two time zones away. There is a tangled yarn ball of interstates and detours between Texas and New Jersey, but a microchip’s return address is clear.

The caller in Grapevine, TX had two brown tabbies whose chips chirped back to Tabby’s Place: a Cat Sanctuary. They had just been surrendered to a Lone Star shelter. Did we, by some wild chance, want them back? The shelter understood that we were rather far away, and we might not remember these cats or their voices, and–

–“We’re going.”

Two Tabby’s Place staff members interrupted the sad song. They shall remain anonymous to protect the extraordinary, except to say that they are Drew and Tiana, and they are made entirely of music and mercy.

They have lives and pets and longings of their own. But at the sound of Canary and Archer’s need, they dropped everything.

This is Tabby’s Place, where no bird falls from the nest without a hand to catch them.

This is Tabby’s Place, where every cat we have ever loved is a cat we still love.

This is Tabby’s Place, which is 1,533 miles from Grapevine, Texas.

Canary and Archer needed to get themselves back to the Garden State. But not even a brown tabby can get himself back to the garden alone. So love took flight.

That sounds poetic, but in times like these, there is nothing so lovely as the pragmatic. There is also no one so lovely as volunteer Beth, the same pilot-angel who shepherded Julien from Jersey to France. With Beth’s help, heart, and huge generosity, the plan came together. Drew and Tiana were airborne.

They were getting this band back together.

A chorus of kindness greeted them in the Lone Star State. No one ever wants to be “surrendered.” But if that verse must be in your song, may you find a shelter as kind as Canary and Archer’s. There are good hearts in every time zone, and our bewildered birds found comfort. The shelter staff bid farewell to their Jersey guests, and before Drew and Tiana even knew what time it was, it was time to fly home.

It would be reasonable if Archer and Canary were terrified at this point. It is hard to sing your song in an unknown land, and they had weathered many seasons since December. It is almost enough to make you go silent.

Unless you are a brown tabby.

An airplane may not have the acoustics for an orchestra, but that jet was about to get a free concert from a folk duo.

Drew and Tiana’s seats were separated, with each of them chaperoning one cat. Canary and Archer did not have to see each other to be in rhythm. They began chirping and meowing at one another across the aisles. Passengers with all sorts of beautiful accents laughed together, loving these tabby travelers, melting into a moment they would not soon forget.

By the end of the flight, Canary was loud and rolling about. Although she’d been tumbled, our brave girl was ready to rock. “Roadies” Drew and Tiana rejoiced all the way home, exhausted, exhilarated, and shushing all who sang their praises.

Didn’t we know this is just what love does?

Does that ever cease to be miraculous?

As you read these words, Canary and Archer are adding verses to the song that began last December and never ends. Their current venue is one of the sweetest nests of all, the foster home of a hero volunteer.

Jeff and his family have raised many kittens, but they love each one completely. Sensing their goodness, Canary and Archer spread their wings.

Always the braver sibling, Canary came out instantly, but within hours, Archer, too, was crooning for affection.

They are stardust.

They are golden.

And through love’s many faces, they are back in the Garden (State).

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