Is a small stray tabby an inconvenience, or an invitation?
Is her mangled eye a horror, or a call to love?
Tell me what you see, and you will tell me who you are.
If you are here, you are Tabby’s Place people.
I know you. I get to bask in your light daily. It is the honor of my life.
You squeeze my hands when you speak about the cats you miss, cats you love, and cats yet to come.
You step gently through our Lobby, as one who walks among miracles. When you meet Berry or Peabody, you drop to your knees, like a natural reaction to the presence of the holy.
You look “broken” cats in the eyes, and you overflow.
You look at Leela, and you don’t turn away.
A cinnamon stick of a stray, little Leela did not attract any admirers. If ever there was a “plain brown tabby,” it was the tiger teenager with the most common markings a cat can have. Striped in the same shades of oaks and soil, she slipped undetected through her days.
Until the day she didn’t.
We never know all the filaments of mercy that come together behind the scenes. But the invisible cat came to light, and not a moment too soon.
Animal Control responded to reports of a stray with an “eye issue.” When they found Leela, her infected right eye could be described as grotesque. Ghastly.
Or … just a reason to wrap her in our arms.
Leela’s future depended on the eyes of her beholders.
Fortunately, you are who you are.
You were in the room when Leela was transfigured from “stray” to “treasure.” As the carrier door opened, Leela crossed between worlds.
Her eye looked just as swollen and serious as before. But every gaze in the room was gentle, even giddy.
No one here has ever seen a “plain brown tabby.” They don’t exist. Each one is a hand-knit masterpiece of stripes and spots and soul. Each one is a ray of eternity on little muffin feet.
And this one could barely believe her eyes. Or eye, as the case may be.
Leela started giving tight hugs. Before our staff could agree on a name, the ailing cat was wrapping her legs around everyone’s neck, pressing her face into cheeks, and rubbing her runny eye all over these astounding people who were not running away at the sight of her face.
Out there, in the world of caution, these hugs would not happen.
But in here, with Tabby’s Place eyes, the room swelled with joy.
Our staff erupted in affection: “She is a perfect baby angel!” “I want her!” “She rubbed her infected eye all over my face and I regret nothing!”
And you, Tabby’s Place family, were here, in the power of love’s sight.
Leela was so tickled to be seen (and thrilled to be tickled), you could almost forget that she had to be in terrible pain. It vanished from view as she rolled and purred. There is nothing so breathtaking as a face that loves you, just as you are.
Is a cat bound for surgery going to lose her eye, or is she going to gain her life?
Is a plain human person just smiling at a stray, or becoming beautiful?
Tell me what you see, and Leela will tell us all who we are.
The telling is in the trills and tummy rubs, the ebullient purrs and the need to be near. And as our vet team addressed her “eye issue,” the brown tabby went from beauty to beauty, splendor to splendor.
We will never be as stunning as Leela, for we are only human. But our futures are in the eyes of the beholder, too.
And if one cat sees us as kind, we are already more beautiful than we were yesterday.
We are Leela’s people.
We are Tabby’s Place people.
And we hope someday the whole world will see what we see.