Homecomings are a big deal. The best kind are when any human comes to Tabby’s Place for the first or thousandth time. It is extra special when one has been away and gets to come back to bask in the love of the cats and friendships forged with staff and volunteers. Coming back to Tabby’s Place after an absence of any length is truly to come home, and to the warmest of welcomes.
This is true of the cats too. When Gracie’s person passed away, her return was guaranteed: Once a Tabby’s Place cat, always a Tabby’s Place cat. We couldn’t throw a ticker tape parade for Gracie’s return. For many reasons, it wouldn’t have been appropriate. Plus, such parares aren’t environmentally friendly, and we don’t have ticker tape anyway (does anyone anymore?). But, despite the reason for her return, we were delighted to welcome Gracie back into the fold and to have the chance to remind her that the love that is forever can not be suppressed. She is skeptical, yet sweet. Sassy, yet snuggly. We are happy Gracie was able to come back home when she needed to.
But, sometimes, coming home to Tabby’s Place is to find oneself in a new place. As very many new volunteers and a very few new staff members enter for the first time, they are welcomed with joy and boundless appreciation. A sanctuary like Tabby’s Place requires a lot of hard work and cooperation. Anybody willing to pitch in is very much wanted and needed. We parade around with our mop buckets, carts, and IV stands, all in the joint pursuit of loving cats and keeping them healthy and keeping their home clean.
Tabby’s Place is home, after all, to so many cats and for however long their stays. Nonetheless, Tabby’s Place is also a space where going to a forever home strived for as the pinnacle of success and is celebrated to the utmost. Whether it is kittens who are carried out in pairs or elders like Elijah, Harvey, and Shelley, our joy is unparalleled. Adoption holds leave us with bated breath as we await special farewell tours for long-term residents or hastily packed departures for tiny newlings. Either way, last visits abound as cherished furry friends are encouraged to write often and share photos. They ask us to send cheese.
Care packages mostly come in the form of loving thoughts and happy memories. But, whether coming or going, homing in on one’s place in the world is a uniquely wonderful thing, no matter if transiently or forever, in a very special sanctuary, or in an individual household.
Out of preference or necessity, by choice or by being chosen, to be home means being wanted and welcome, cared for and adored. This is what we of Tabby’s Place provide for all of the cats, ideally when we’re sending them off with their forever families, but also every time one comes home to us.