Darling, dazzling Tabby’s Place family…
We knew you were selfless…
We knew you were generous…
We knew your hearts are made of mercy…
But…
…surely some things are impossible?
Impossible: a silver tabby finds gold on the other side of “injuries incompatible with life.”
Impossible: a shattered tuxedo attends the formal occasion of his own survival.
Impossible: a teetering tortoiseshell swaps seizures for peace of mind.
Impossible: a stray, “just a stray,” is cherished as a child.
Impossible: in a time of inflation, when emergency expenses are up 85%, Tabby’s Place asks you to give. We set the largest Linda Fund Matching Challenge goal in twenty years. We hold our breaths.
You hold the cats in your arms.
You carry torches into dark hours.
You consider “impossible,” and you throw your head back, and you laugh with the power of love.
And you give, and you give, and you give like angels. You give like grandparents. You give like people madly in love. Which, we remember, you are.
You are wildly in love with the littlest, the least, the last, the lost.
Your hearts blaze for the forgotten and the fearful and the failing and the frail.
You give, and you give, and you give, and the cats live, and they live, and they live.
“Hopeless” challenges “unconditional” to arm wrestling. Grace has the stronger grip.
Your checks on Muppet Show stationery, and your website donations urging us to “please save diabetics,” and your anonymous lasagna rolls of cash, and your sacrifices of selfless proportions…they leave us breathless.
And they fill the cats’ lungs with air.
And they punch holes in the tires of that tired old word “impossible.”
Prescott prevails over a night she was not supposed to survive. She rises on the wings of the morning, and now she runs, and pole-vaults, and reigns over a life she “should have” been denied. You gave; she lived.
Gulliver travels from one donut bed to another, seeking the highest number of cats he can cuddle simultaneously. He raises the temperature of the Community Room with his uncontrollable warmth. He raises the head that was supposed to lay down one last time. You gave; he lived.
Nina nestles into the forever home that looked like fool’s gold. She does not have seizure-shaken nightmares of Beirut’s streets. She snuggles. She shines. You gave; she lived.
Mars prefers this humble planet, terra agape, love land. A cat does not get costly, life-saving surgery when you are “just a stray.” Mars correctly believes that she is “just loved.” After all, you gave; she lived.
And over the horizon, through a humid haze of love, we can almost see them.
The cats you will save in October and January and June.
They will come, up to their whiskers in “impossible.” Their illnesses and injuries will be urgent. Their knapsacks will be empty of hope. They will be exhausted from bumping their noses into endless closed doors.
They will bump into your love.
They will fall into your arms.
They will rise on your donation, curling into the curlicues of your check signature.
The door will open.
You gave; they will live.
Darling, dazzling Tabby’s Place family, you did it.
You made this the largest Linda Fund Matching Challenge in history. You made a way where there was no way.
A year ago, we’d never seen Prescott’s face. Today, we can’t live without her. Just picture all the friends we have yet to love.
You did it. You did it. YOU DID IT!
Surely nothing is impossible when love is unconditional.
We love you, we thank you, we stagger in awe of you.
Prescott doesn’t stagger at all. Prescott strides like a queen. Prescott has two fabulous videos for you, created with a little help from our valiant Senior Veterinary Technician Denise. Enjoy.