Dearest Sponsors,

I have very sad news to share with you. March was a terrible month. My best friend, Grecca, was promoted to kitty heaven.

I’ll always remember that Grecca was the first of the lobby cats to greet me upon my arrival. I’ll never forget what a greeting it was! I probably mentioned before that Grecca was the loudest cat in Tabby’s Place history. I’m not kidding. When she shouted at me, I was so startled that I nearly pooped. I was being relocated from a suite where some of the residents didn’t accept me. I was having asthma attacks from the stress. I thought, “Oh no, someone’s yelling at me already!”

I came to realize that Grecca was always loud.

That first shout was a great big “YO” welcome. She was nice to me from day one. We became friends.

Sure, there were times when I wished she would turn down the volume on that microphone in her throat. Many a nap was jolted awake by Grecca greeting someone or asking for something. I remember wishing she could just be a little quieter. Now it’s too quiet, and I miss my friend.

Unfortunately, there’s more sad news. We lost Mr. Man from Suite H, and Lola from the Medical Suite. As if that wasn’t bad enough, my wonderful friend Boobalah passed away just one day after Grecca.

We are so sad, because Boo was sweet to every cat and person she ever met. We knew that her health was failing, but she left sooner than any of us expected. I like to think that Grecca mega-shouted from the great beyond for her to hurry up so they could be together.

Both of my dear friends were supportive of my quest to become a cultured cat and appreciate beauty in the world around me. They were interested in my exploration of poetry and literature these past few months. To honor them, I’m dedicating this month to appreciating beauty in the actual world around me – our beautiful lobby, where we enjoyed our time together.

Our lobby is pretty great. There are some really cool structures, and interesting items come and go all the time. I’ve decided to take a good look at some of these things with my cultured eye, and discover what might have been the inspiration for them.

Let me begin with one of my favorite things:  our cat cave hideaway. Where did someone get the inspiration to create this wonderful thing? I returned to super nice human Sharon’s computer to search. I think she’d let us cats use it at night anyway because she’s really good to us, but please don’t tell her we know her password.

I think I found what inspired it. A painting by American artist Joanne Greenbaum! She’s pretty famous. Her art has been exhibited here in the U.S. and internationally. She was interviewed in Berlin around the time she created this work. She was quoted as saying, “I don’t have a hard time being alone.” I feel that way sometimes, too. Especially when the new kitten lobby resident, Berry, won’t stop playing with my tail. That’s when I need some cat cave hideaway alone time.

Another favorite is our beloved cat cube. I love this thing. All of us love it. It’s often said that nothing beats a good box. I’m not sure that’s true. Flaps get in the way of getting in and out! A cube is much better. Especially when it has soft, clean blankets in it. What cube out there in the world inspired our nice deep relaxation space?

This super sleek and stylish cube, designed by American artist Peter Alexander, must be a very important cube. It has to be the one that inspired cat cubes everywhere, because someone paid $42,320.00 for it! I have to wonder who would spend that much for a cube that doesn’t come with a cat? I hope they already had a cat at home to enjoy it.

Considering the price of that catless cube, the Tabby’s Place April 1st through 15th Free Adoption Event has to be the best value on the planet. It usually costs $150 to adopt one of us. That’s not even a lot. But this month, you can buy a knock-off cube like mine for about $15, and bring one of us home free for unconditional love and companionship. That’s a savings of $42,305.00 with lap warming, purrs, and bonks included!

One day, a very attractive cat statue appeared in the lobby. We all examined and admired it. Of course, I began to wonder about the inspiration for this art. No research required. I figured it out right away. The muse for this sculpture had to be our very own Tabby’s Place resident Stella! Her magnificent fur is the envy of everyone here. I didn’t know she was a model before she came to live at Tabby’s Place.

Part of appreciating beauty in the world around me is the close examination of the fashion and accessory choices of visitors to our lobby.  I’m always willing to give an honest critique. I had a chance to examine my correspondent Nancy’s satchel handbag during her recent visit. It’s OK, but I think she could step up her bag game a bit. I recommended she look into the Adventure Nappa Leather Bag by Miu Miu. It’s my favorite brand because it sounds a lot like my voice AND my name. The bag is quite nice, and a little more fashion-forward.

By the way, I had a lot of time to contemplate this style advice. Being the well-mannered cat that I am, I let correspondent Nancy sit in my favorite chair for a long time while I patiently waited on the table next to her with her purse. It was nice that she gave me lots of pets and chin scritches. She brought treats too. I know she appreciated it because visitors were in all the other chairs, but I really wanted to sleep.

It’s pretty easy to see the really big inspiration for our cat scratch tower. The Independence Monument in Kyiv, Ukraine, looks just like ours except that it would take a King Kong-sized cat to enjoy it. Frankly, it’s alarmingly big. I like the user-friendly scale of our tower. The improvement of making the star wiggle on top is a nice touch. It’s fun to give it a swat.

Is the world’s largest ball of twine, located in Darwin, Minnesota the inspiration for our large scratching ball? Wow. That’s a creation we’d really enjoy. I wish we could have a field trip to visit it. Every cat at Tabby’s Place would be able to play with it at the same time. The kittens would lose their minds with happiness. I could see a few of the more adventurous ones getting all the way to the top, and getting stuck there!

Thank goodness it’s kitten season. We could all use an extra dose of happiness after last month. I like watching the little goofballs through our big window. It’s cheerful and life-affirming. I hope the Cherish The Kittens Fund Drive helps all the little ones get healthy and ready for forever homes. I hope their families will like to play!

When I look around our lobby, I appreciate the beauty in my surroundings more than I did before. I see things differently now that I’m a cultured cat. But this beauty pales beside the beauty of the caring I feel from you, my sponsor. Selfless love is the most beautiful thing in the world. I’m truly thankful to have you in my life.