Happy December, Team TNR!

You did it! You made it. You’re here, on the back porch of the year, where we all bundle up and gaze at the stars of 2025.

Just think of the cats who are dancing like comets because of you.

There’s Baby Yoda, the orange empath who arrived in the clutches of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). But the force was strong with this one, because you were with this one, and today he thrives in his forever home.

Look! It’s Roberta, steadfast as the North Star. The little striped senior now dreams in sunbeams. In old age, she feels as treasured as the most-wanted gift (which, of course, she is).

And who’s that meteor, a flash of gold tinsel giggling through the sky? Why, it’s Bernard, the elf with the enormous ego, healthy after his harrowing days outdoors.

What about the stocking stuffers, handmade treasures with frozen toes? The world is a shaky snow globe for orphan kittens like Bode. But thanks to you, they are growing in grace and goofiness, strong and sweet.

Do you see what I see? It’s “impossible” turned into “unconditional,” in the secret recipe of love.

Elderly Marmalade, languishing on the grounds of a shuttered prison, now nestles under blankets with a family of her own. Petrified Jam, jiggling with fear, melts like peanut butter in gentle arms.

And wee Willow (pictured at top), the paraplegic sugar plum, has forgotten that she was ever forsaken. Abandoned by her mother, she now has more parents than “Deck the Halls” has “fa la la’s.” Not even Santa’s reindeer could keep up with her as she sprints through our Lobby, starstruck that she gets to do it again tomorrow.

And tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, each one will feel their worth, because you gave your heart.

You, dear sponsors, are the roots of their family tree.

Yet as we look back at the love that lit each day of 2025, we gaze ahead, too. You have already begun to shine for the cats whose December was dim.

Long after kitten season “should” have been over, we learned of two desperate toddlers. A tiny gingerbread man was bewildered and frail. There were rumors that he had a sister, a candy-colored wisp of a kitten, but something seemed terribly wrong with her back legs … and she had not been seen in some time.

But miracles hide in December, and we were determined to find them.

You were right there with our team. You could see your breath in the cold. Soon, you would see a kitten. Mothman was hungry and bedraggled, but by nightfall he would have a full belly and a purr you could hear from the North Pole.

Still, he cried.

He missed her.

His sister was still out there.

And thanks to you, we are singing “Joy to the World” … because now she’s here.

We can’t imagine how little Jackalope survived as long as she did outdoors. Although she is otherwise healthy, it appears she was born with no back feet. No doubt she leaned on her brother for comfort and joy. When we reunited them, Mothman and Jackalope were the happiest kittens this side of Christmas morning.

Thanks to you, the last page of the year is just a prologue to love’s true story.

As we gaze at the faces you’ve saved, I think of the line from the old carol: “the soul felt its worth.” A year ago, these cats were nameless and homeless.

But your kindness was on the move, so they were not hopeless.

Just imagine the cats we will love together in 2026.

Thank you from the depths of my heart, sweet sponsors.

May you and your dear ones have a blessed and joyous holiday season.

Much love, your correspondent,
Angela