Happy September. I hope this in-between season finds you betwixt and between all manner of blessings, in a veritable hug of joy.
Hugs are part of Brielle’s regular regimen (when she’ll accept them, and only for as long as she wishes to permit them, of course). This month, she’s also added a most unusual material to her diet.
It’s not organic yak. It’s not roast beast. It’s something much less…edible.
Brielle has discovered the joy of eating postage.
I generally keep a coil of stamps in a little teacup on my desk, ready for all postal emergencies. One morning this month, I reached for a stamp only to realize that the entire loose end of the coil had been shredded and punctured by teeny tiny teeth.
This is the work of a kitten, I decided, eyeballing the wee ones scampering around my ankles. Who else could have teeth so tiny and impulses so impulsive as to eat stamps?
Confident in my powers of deduction, I tucked the stamps a little further down into the teacup, burying them with some paperclips, where no loose ends would tempt kitten teeth. Problem solved. Right? Ha.
The next day, Brielle delighted me by leaping onto my desk, all dainty whiskers and enthused purrs. She granted me the privilege of loving on her for a few minutes before moving on to her real objective. A cat on a mission, she went straight for the teacup, plunged her paw beneath the paperclips, and extracted the surviving stamps. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.
So much for my hopes of joining CSI: Ringoes.
I swear Brielle was smiling as she macerated all that innocent postage. I suppose I should have stopped her immediately (we lost tens of cents to her new hobby), but I was just so amused by her amusement that I watched, transfixed, for several moments. I’d never noticed that Brielle had such tiny teeth. It’s just one more adorable feature of our girl.
Adorable though she may be, Brielle is probably better off not regularly consuming U.S. postage, so I’ve found a new home for my stamps. Brielle isn’t too troubled by this — and, in fact, she may have some sufficiently distracting good news in the near future.
I almost hesitate to share this, as it’s nowhere near a sure thing. But…
This week, a dashing young man strode into the Tabby’s Place lobby wearing an Air Force uniform. “Thank you!” I exclaimed. “Thank you so much for your service. My Grandpa was in the Air Force. ‘Aim High.'” The young serviceman grinned, thanked me for my thanks, and explained that he was newly home — for good — from deployments to the Middle East; had just proposed to his sweetheart; and was ready for his first-ever cat as an adult.
I may have set the stage for my own broken heart, but I introduced him to the most beautiful tuxedo cat in America. Like this young man, Brielle is a veteran of life’s hardships; like him, Brielle’s begun a much sweeter life.
And wouldn’t you know they made a heart connection?
The young veteran didn’t make any official decision that day. Like all the best adopters, he wants to think carefully — and talk to his fiancee, of course. But I knew, as I saw him delighting in Brielle, that this was a glimpse of things to come. Whether with this young man or some other amazing person, Brielle would be going to a forever home before long.
When that day comes, dear sponsors, you and I will cry — and rejoice. In the meantime, know that you’re filling Brielle’s days with love, health, and joy even better than 10,000 stamps. Have a super month!