Sometimes we leave a place and are happy to have it behind us. Sometimes, though, that means leaving people behind, people we might prefer to keep. Circumstances may make it difficult to stay in touch, as might location and technical aptitude…or other things.
Life in general is often the biggest thing that keeps us from staying connected.
But, SOMETIMES, some very special times, our past comes back to plant a big, fat, wet, juicy kiss right on our smiling faces. Sometimes someone we knew from way-back-when reappears unexpectedly. JOY!!!!! [I’ll spare you the actual number of exclamation points this level of JOY warrants. It’s something on the order of a googolplex of infinities.] There is a certain excitement that comes from getting even the most oblique confirmation about the continued well-being of someone who was once one of the only good bits of something that was, overall, more suitably viewed from the rearview mirror.
This is very much the way of things with boomerangs – kitties that have returned to Tabby’s Place for any reason. As regular Felis Catus readers know: once a Tabby’s Place cat, always a Tabby’s Place cat. In a way, though, this is the way it is for every single cat that is brought to Tabby’s Place (not to mention 2 who checked themselves in). All are greeted with unrepentant excitement and joy.
Personality, health, attitude, coloring – none of it matters.
Functionality of different parts (legs, tummies, eyes, etc.)? Irrelevant.
Staff and volunteers were still as delighted with Magda as on the day of her arrival when she was having hissy fits (Seriously, the first time we met there was MEGA hissing, and I swear it wasn’t me.) following her relocation to a postage-stamp-sized office shared with two humans and too many felines (one would have been too many). Despite elapsed time, regardless of her discomfort with life indoors, every visit with this shy tuxedo has been underscored, italicized, and bolded because she is a Tabby’s Place cat. Whence she came is behind her. The best of her journey lies ahead. We are on tenterhooks just waiting to witness all the goodness that will unfold for her.
About 14 months have passed since Malora first joined us, and we are eager for her personal red carpet to unroll, guiding her into her future. Nevertheless, she is daily received as the goddess in grey and white that she is. Cautious of new people, challenged in some ways that are best left unspoken (except it has to do with poop, and that’s something we often speak about at the sanctuary), and as yet without the forever home she deserves, Malora is trumpeted and triumphant. We sing paeans of her majesty. We feel graced by her mere presence. We look forward to the day when we can say, “Remember Malora? When was she adopted? It seems so long ago now.”
Should either of these tuxedos leave us for fancier shores or for quieter havens or for wild adventures across treacherous terrain with new-found friends, our joy cups will overflow. Should we ever, then, receive updates, no matter how brief, our heads might just explode with happiness. If they stay put, with us, never roaming away, never viewing us behind them as part of their pasts, our elation at their existence will never diminish, will never waiver.
For these sweet M+Ms (better than any kind of candy in every single way) and for all their furry counterparts in all the offices, suites, and spaces of every size, there is always a welcoming embrace (metaphorical or actual, depending on the cat) waiting for them. If we hold up a mirror to allow each of them – every single catus of the felis variety – a close look at themselves, each will be greeted by the face of love and acceptance, reflecting what they will always receive at Tabby’s Place (at least from the people).
Yes, there are great benefits to viewing adopted cats through the reflection of a rearview mirror. There are also, unregretfully, reasons to relish the cats that we can still look at directly through the Tabby’s Place lens. Each one reminds us that what happened in the past doesn’t define the future.
Sure, there are some things best left behind. But, there are always far more amazing things to look forward to.