Dear Team Steven,
What’s this? A ray of sunshine, a warm and gentle breeze, a bright new dawn of hope … could it actually be spring?
Yesterday, I worked outside on my farm in seventy-degree heat—no hat, no gloves, no mittens, no muffler, no boots! With just a T-shirt on my back, a pair of dirty jeans, a glowing smile on my face (and the obligatory sun hat), I gratefully reached out and embraced a delightful possibility: at long, long, long last, might this winter finally be over?
Thank you for persevering through this unending season of snow, sleet, ice, and cold, cruel winds with the cats and me! Sometimes, watching a blizzard of white whirl outside our windows, it seemed like Tabby’s Place was snugly nestled inside its very own beautiful snow globe.
On other bleak and dreary days, the “LA girl” in me pined woefully for sunshine and beach days. It was all Steven could do to keep me centered and positively on track. Thus began my personal winter’s spiritual journey toward inner peace at the feet of a true Zen master.
It should come as no surprise that Steven is a gentle giant of goodwill and a willing instructor of the many paths to inner peace. Following his direction, I assumed a comfortable position on the floor next to him and began to quietly mew a mantra of, “This too shall pass.”
Nonetheless, I just couldn’t seem to focus, and our fluffy orange philosopher kindly suggested I might not yet be ready to plop down in the middle of a busy medical suite to reach for nirvana.
Together, Steven and I retreated to a quieter corner of the lab and resumed our meditation. I was determined to conquer the winter darkness surrounding my heart, but it seemed hopelessly challenging. Steven just shook his hairy head and grinned like the proverbial Cheshire cat.
“You try too hard to attain peace, little grasshopper,” he chided me. Like some Kung Fu sensei, he beamed beatifically and breathed, “Let me show you how it’s done.”
It was then and there that I learned an incredible secret that has been staring you, me, and everyone at Tabby’s Place in our faces for years.
“Achieving inner peace and serenity is really quite simple,” Steven explained. “Enlightenment lies right between your whiskers and the very tip of your nose.” And suddenly I had it! It’s that darn tongue of his. The secret is in Steven’s tongue!
Day or night, round the clock, it’s a rare moment when Steven isn’t sticking out his tongue. Even when the vet team recently drew blood as part of Steven’s annual checkup, his quiet, self-contained countenance never broke—he was all tongue.
It seems what all of us have failed to realize over Steven’s many years at Tabby’s Place is this: When you’re blowing a raspberry at the rest of the world, there is no problem that is insurmountable. Besides just feeling darn good when you do it, the raspberry always helps keep things in perspective and makes every day all the more enjoyable.
There you have it … Steven’s secret to attaining inner peace! And we thought it would be so hard!
Thank you for making Steven’s life of peace and bliss possible through your faithful generosity.
Your correspondent,
Tina
P.S. The cats enjoyed another staff sleepover during our February blizzard, and those with solarium access investigated the snow. You can read about it in our Development Director Angela’s recent blog, “The Blissard of 2026.” The feline pawprints in the snow are quite heartwarming.