Welcome to the world of a radiant calico. I warn you: loving Adelaide will not leave you unchanged. You will be larger, better, truer.
Ready?
Here we go.
I’ll begin with a necessary apology: no words I could write, this or any month, will do justice to Adelaide. It’s simply not possible, certainly not for a mere human like me. So, whatever glimpse you may get of Addy’s glory and goodness through these updates, multiply that by 150,000, and you’ll be closer to the genuine article.
As you know, being Addy’s very first sponsors, Adelaide’s seen difficult days. She wandered our rural community for years, skinny and scrabbling out a living from the kindness of strangers and the slowness of mice. It was not the life any creature would choose. Her body was thin, her nose burned bald by the sun, and her mouth in increasing agony with each passing month.
As if garden-variety dental disease weren’t awful enough, our Addy had another strike against her. Somewhere in those lean years, she’d been on the wrong end of some other cat’s teeth. Addy’s assailant was infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)…and, as a result of that bite wound, so, now, was Adelaide. The virus weakened her immune system, making her more susceptible to infections and a dreadful dental disease called stomatitis.
No, those years were not kind.
Accordingly, we’d understand if Addy, herself, had become a bit hardened. “Hurt people hurt people,” as they say, and this could easily translate to feline “people.”
It could…in theory. But it doesn’t, not in the case of Adelaide.
Our Addy is simply incapable of holding a grudge. Or maybe that’s not quite fair; in fact, more likely, she made a choice at some point. She could shake her fist at the universe for hurting her…or she could hurtle love back at the hard and wonderful world, rejoicing in the best and rising above the rest.
And oh, dear sponsors, has she ever risen to the challenge of joy.
Where she could have harbored bitterness, Adelaide has radiated bliss — ever since her first five minutes at Tabby’s Place. Most cats endure their initial veterinary intake exam with wriggles, cries and justifiable hisses. Addy, however, made “muffins” (that happy marching motion of the paws), purring so loudly that folks in Canada wondered what the noise was all about.
Where she could have narrowed her green eyes at our uncertain species, Adelaide’s trusted us completely from the start. Visit Addy in her suite, and she’ll fling all five pounds of herself into your lap, a torpedo of delight.
Oh, but one thing to bear in mind about Addy in your lap: I hope you don’t have any plans for afternoon tea with the Queen or pizza with the President, because your schedule has just been replaced with “Adelaide Lap Dominion Time.” Settle in for a long snuggle.
Not that time with Addy ever feels slow.
Amazing sponsors, you’re making this life of love possible for Adelaide. Through all that she’s experienced, she’s only gotten sweeter and braver. Now that she has the lovely life she deserves, who can imagine how beautiful she’ll become?
Have a marvelous month, and know that you are changing the world for our radiant calico!