As the year wanes, fading into the shortest days, we reflect on what has passed. At the same time, looking toward the new year, we look forward to the promise of another beginning. With your forbearance, dear readers, it is at the waning where we begin.
We all make the same promise when we bring animals into our lives: forever love. This promise is at the core of what makes Tabby’s Place different from many organizations geared at caring for small creatures. It is a promise that resonates throughout each day, through every expression (the kinds we see on faces as well as the kind where cats are helped to eliminate bodily waste).
A particular expression I shall never forget was on the face of the stunning Drew, junior veterinary technician, at the moment when she informed me that a painful goodbye was imminent. Her own pain was clear, as was her awareness of the pain her news would bring me.This is the type of thing that Drew, Jess – another fabulous junior vet tech, and Denise – our extraordinary senior vet tech, are at the forefront of (yet also alongside the rest of us volunteers and staff), in dealing with all too frequently.
Being a part of the decision-making (no one at Tabby’s Place must make any such decision alone), delivering the news, and being there for our feline friends at the last, saddest hour is the most beatific, gentle, and kind thing any person can be called upon to do for anyone of any species. At the very end, eyes and faces are wet with tears.
There is also laughter.
Laughter is a necessary and gorgeous way to celebrate a cherished life. Once a sweet soul has relinquished a body, all pain is gone. There is peace. Our human angels ensure that the transition is comfortable and in good time. Tabby’s Place cats can dance across the rainbow bridge knowing they had the most love, the best care, and the adoration of so many.
As the year wanes, we know that new losses are to be expected with the stress of the season. We know too that old losses will wax fuller for absences that we can never accustom ourselves to.
Thankfully, that is not all that waxes in our hearts.
As the dimming days of December bring past sorrows to our minds, we must allow ourselves to also remember the brightest days. It is okay to cry. But, we must remember and cherish the good too. We must celebrate. We must laugh.
With laughter comes renewed hope. With that hope, our hearts open farther, and we can look toward the new year that will have 12 full months to grant opportunities to embrace life fully, providing many large servings of love and joy.
At Tabby’s Place, as you well know, embracing life is literal, every single day. Each revolution around the sun brings us the chance to strike out the word “hopeless,” leaving “situation” to stand on its own. Situations can be dealt with.
From Jonathan, with the most experience (This was his idea, after all.), to the newest volunteer, who has barely begun, we come together to address every situation that arises. Sometimes, the entire situation is Hips (Seriously, Hips IS a situation.) climbing on the shoulders of an unsuspecting visitor. At other times, the situation is figuring out the best mush for tempting a picky eater. Too often, situations require medical intervention, and that’s why the Linda Fund was created.
The autumn of 2023 brought with it an additional heaping of hope for cats whose situation is being FeLV+ when, 0n October 7, Quinn’s Corner opened. When 2024 begins, it will necessarily start small, although it will wax larger than the first full moon.
The promise of the new year is great for Tabby’s Place: A Cat Sanctuary.
As we look back on all that we’ve shared, everything we’ve gone through, we will remember with joy all the love that we’ve known because of Tabby’s Place, and we will eagerly rub our hands together in anticipation of more: more cats, more fish mush, more coming together to do good things for little creatures.
As we do, I hope you will join me in celebrating the best of 2023. Whether it’s a glass of sparkling cider, the finest champagne, or something in between, may the bubbles tickle your nose and remind you of the bleps, the toebeans, and the purrs.
Be glad for the adoptions, the rescues, the resolved situations, and the many lives so much better lived.
I propose a toast to each of you for being a part of the magic of Tabby’s Place!
Please also join me in a toast to the amazing staff and volunteers who make your dreams for little cats blossom into an amazing reality.
And, now, as 2023 slips away to make way for 2024, a final toast:
Cheers to the New Year and all the promise that it brings!
Perfectly said, dear LeFey. “The many lives so much better lived” – thank you, Tabby’s Place. Happy New Year to every one and all of us!