They have a solarium, but their strength is not in the sunbeams.

They have a daily Conga line of snacks, but their fullness is not in the food.

They have a longer line of admirers than the free sample guy at Costco, even when he has those little raviolis that remind you how good it is to be alive, but their celebration is not in their celebrity status.

Tiloki and Kannu have each other, and that is their sum total of “everything.”

Tiloki was born in formalwear, and he has been trying to figure out why ever since. He is a buttery soft sweatshirt inside that tuxedo. He is closer to hot cocoa than champagne.

He would skip the opera to hear an old family story, one he’s heard a hundred times before. Tell it again! His eyes still get wide at the big scene, when Kannu comes along in her little black ballet slippers.

Kannu. For as long as Tiloki can remember, Kannu has been Tiloki’s happiness. The arithmetic is ecstatic. Kannu plus Tiloki equals Everything Is Going To Be Okay.

It sounds humble.

It also sounds impossible.

“Everything Is Going To Be Okay?” Doesn’t Kannu know the kind of world into which he’s been born? Clearly, his dreams are overdressed.

You would think that losing his beloved person would have stripped him down to despair. If that weren’t enough, he ended up in a crowded shelter. When time is ticking, math is not kind to a misfit.

Severe shyness plus feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) equals Out Of Time.

Grief plus fear equals “hopeless.”

But Tiloki plus Kannu are greater than the sum of their sorrows. And “hopeless” cannot count as high as love.

Always the bolder sibling, vivacious Tiloki was her brother’s spokescat. She wriggled at human tickles and performed stand-up comedy for strangers and angels.

A charcoal cardigan with an heirloom white locket, the bubbly black cat sat on Kannu’s head to get closer to people. People plus kindness equal cuddles. Cuddles are superior even to ravioli.

But while Tiloki cuddled, Kannu cowered.

Tiloki minus Kannu could have shaken off “hopeless” like lint. People are more open to FIV than to the clinging cloak of grief. An FIV+ cat is a little more prone to infection, but she can live a normal lifespan.

But a mourning cat is a harder sell. Kannu might never “come around.”

Tiloki could have been adopted easily, if only she left him.

The stars would sooner leave the moon.

And Kannu plus Tiloki equals light in the darkness.

When two cats are each other’s world, heaven and Earth lean in to help them. Unwilling to separate the soulmates, the staff of the city shelter whirled breathlessly, telling Tiloki and Kannu’s story everywhere hearts are listening.

Strangers across states and seas shared the story. Anonymous angels added their voices.

The world would know about Tiloki and Kannu.

The empathy was exponential.

The story reached Tabby’s Place, and our eyes grew wide. Tell it again! 

Two cats, “time-stamped” and clinging to each other?

Faces squished together in their city cage, they looked like everlasting love in stainless steel walls. How did “impossible” have their number? FIV+ plus shyness? Seriously? That was the grand total of “hopeless?”

Doesn’t “hopeless” know the kind of world that love is building? Clearly its threats were overdressed.

Kannu plus Tiloki equals an honor and a privilege.

In the storybook, it looks like Tabby’s Place saved them. The bonded pair faced a countdown that could not end well. We get to do the voices of the breakthrough, the beginning.

But we know the real math here.

Tiloki plus Kannu equals everything. They are not the brash, crashing cymbals of ten thousand cats. They are not crowd-pleasing orange kittens, or calendar-cover Persians.

In the still, small breath that starts in Tiloki’s shy lungs and exhales through Kannu’s courage, they are the essence of Everything Is Going To Be Okay.

They are what love looks like over the long haul, the zany sister and her earnest brother.

They are the kind of friendship so deep, despair cannot touch bottom.

And they are Tabby’s Place cats now, inseparable as ever.

It is our delight to fill Kannu and Tiloki’s days with wonder. Intrepid Tiloki coaxes Kannu to the front of the cubby. Look! Love has many faces. Also, many treats.

Chicken lollipops taste like nibbles of divine mercy. Volunteers come and cuddle, forcing Kannu and Tiloki to count high in the tie for Kindest Person We Have Ever Met Yet.

But no new joy cannot compete with the comfort as soft as an old pair of shoes.*

Tiloki plus Kannu equals everything.

And everything is truly going to be okay.

*Breaking news: Break out your dancing shoes. Tiloki plus Kannu plus an amazing woman named Emily equal forever. That’s right. Our precious pair has just been adopted. Love counts higher than we can ever imagine.