Plenty of kids love cats. They love them and squeeze them and mush them and sometimes scare them.

But it’s the rare and precious mini-human who loves cats way down to his depths. Rare and precious, clearly, is Jacob.

A month or so ago, we heard from Jacob for the first time:

“Hello,

“How are you? My name is Jacob and I love cats! I just learned about Tabby’s Place. I’m 10 years old. When I grow up I really want to work there.

“What jobs are there? Just want to know! I’m crazy about cats and I want them to be happy!

“Thank you for helping cats, that’s very nice of you guys! Meow! Have a great day!

“Jacob”

This kind of catcentric heart prompted a response from His Eminence, the Big Cheese himself: Jonathan. Tabby’s Place’s Grand Poo-Bah Founder and Executive Director wrote:

“Jacob,

“You are certainly an amazing kid for just 10 years old. And you are our kind of human. 🙂

“We would love to have you work here. We have lots of work that needs to get done:

– cleaning cat cages
– medicating cats
– feeding cats
– examining cats (with our vet)
– cleaning the rooms in which cats live
– carrying litter & food
– helping people with adoptions

“BTW: please let us know of any other ideas you have. You obviously know a lot about cats.”

A sweet exchange. A stellar young person. An all-around-feel-warm-and-fuzzy phenomenon. Little did we know that Jacob has a not-so-secret identity: CatMan. This week, our young phenomenon wrote again:

“Hello, you probably remember me. I want to tell a story.

“Everybody calls me CatMan. I love cats and I always will save cats. One day, I was with my friends. My friends were skidding around on their bikes and said, ‘that cat followed us.’ Right behind them was a Himalayan cat — and she was walking in the road.

“Along came a car! I actually skidded like a baseball player on the cement and got the cat before it got ran over. I was like 1 inch away from the car. I knew I would save a cat. I’m so glad it didn’t die.

“So I hope people don’t make fun of cats, especially special need cats. I also learned that the cat I saved was a special needs cat. Have a great day!

“From,
“The Cat Whisperer and Cat Lover,
“Jacob”

You can keep your Batman and Superman and Aquaman and Miraculous MandolinMan*: CatMan is our #1 hero here at Tabby’s Place.

But as if his daring rescue weren’t enough, Jacob has reached across the miles to bless and rescue the Tabby’s Place cats in the most powerful way.

Jacob found Tabby’s Place on Pinterest, where he extended his amazing offer:

“Any sick cats, want to pray for them (or need help?)”

This is a ten-year-old, folks.

If I may take a step back for a moment, consider the climate of our nation’s news these days. There’s a heavy fog of doom and gloom afoot, with talk of everything from a fiscal cliff to Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman’s breakup to the end of the world to the end of the Hostess company. Beneath their veneer of erudite talk, it sure sounds like all the newscasters are saying the same thing: oh my gosh save me ’cause we’re all fixin’ to diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie. But into the midst of the toxic pessimism comes a ray of truth and hope.

Jacob.

I’m convinced that this young man of joy and prayer and love for cats is not an isolated angel-child. I’d stake my life and my back-up supply of Twinkies on the belief that the best is, in fact, yet to come. Frank Sinatra and Jesus both said so.

Long live CatMan and all whose hearts beat with so much love. The future looks bright.**

*This is not, to my knowledge, an “actual,” “official” superhero. But if that should change, we do, in fact, want him on the Tabby’s Place team.

**Thanks to all who pray fervently for our cats. They need divine intervention and your faithful love.

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