Dear Brielle buddies,

Happy…

1. April

2. Tax Day

3. Brielle day

Then again, every day is Brielle Day around these parts — and that’s especially the case now that spring is upon us. Magnolia trees are shouting into bloom, and so is our favorite tiny tuxedo.

All through the winter, Brielle preferred the periphery of the feline social scene. Purely content with her own deep thoughts and the affection of humans, Brielle displayed a live-and-let-live attitude towards her furrier neighbors. So long as they didn’t tangle with her (ahem, Queen), she’d blissfully ignore them.

But this month, spring fever is turning our tiny introvert into a bit of a queen bee. Her selective socialization has happened with none other than Chrissy, an interesting choice to say the least. As lovely as a lily, Chrissy has lived at Tabby’s Place for 3+ years, chronically overlooked by adopters due to her tendency to run from them in terror. We’d moved Chrissy into Brielle’s Community Room in the hopes that all-day exposure to humans would help Chrissy learn to trust.

The weather had just turned the corner towards warmth one day when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw flashes of black and white and grey dancing in the light, cat paws tangling in the air. A fight? I spun around with concern. The last thing Chrissy needed was Queen’s attitude.

But no concern was needed. It wasn’t Queen tangling with Chrissy, but our benevolent queen Brielle — and they weren’t so much tangling as playing.

Playing.

I watched incredulously as the girls did a sort of feline patty-cake (not entirely unlike this, minus the Français). They were both enjoying themselves, oblivious to the world around them and lost in the flow of fun.

Just a week later, Chrissy was adopted.

Perhaps this points to slow, patient progress. Perhaps all that human socialization finally paid off. But you and I know the truth: it was Brielle who helped prepare Chrissy’s heart for her forever home. In Chrissy’s years at Tabby’s Place, I’d never seen her so full of unabashed joy as in her frolics with Brielle. Joy always leads to miracles.

And your love keeps Brielle’s joy ever-blazing, dear sponsors. Thank you for your faithful support of our girl. May this spring fill your heart to bursting with joys beyond description.