Grandma

Today we have some sad news to share with our followers. Yesterday, our group made a difficult decision to help Grandma cross the rainbow bridge. Today, I wanted to take a moment to share a story about Grandma and Blackie that I had written but had kept in my draft folders. As much as it hurts to think about not seeing her anymore, I wanted to make sure our followers remember Grandma as a survivor.

I remember the day I met Grandma; she walked out alongside Gracie, Blackie, Handsome, & Princess. They were the Portable cats. Grandma caught my attention because she was so tiny compared to the other cats. She also was very stoic. Once in a while, she would meow or roll on her belly, but most of the time, she would sit there and watch you prepare her meal.

Even though she was petite, she was a survivor. She managed to live outdoors for 12 years. The story of her losing her home comes to mind and reminds me of her resilience.

Grandma used to call the portables her home until the campus decided to tear them down. I remember that the days before they tore down the portables, some volunteers had taken the time to block any holes to keep Grandma and Blackie from entering the portables. That did not work. Grandma and Blackie found a way back in, and we had to figure our next steps.

The morning that they were tearing down the portables, two volunteers and I woke up early to lure Grandma and Blackie out of the portables. Then we had the task of keeping these feral kitties entertained long enough for the construction workers to demolish the portables. That was a difficult task. The construction crew was going to tear down the building at 6 am, but as we all know, construction does not go as plan, so they began a bit later. Blackie and Grandma got tired of us and ran for the portables. We begged the construction workers to let us go home and get an air horn to scare the kitties out of the portable. The construction crew was so kind and patient, and they allowed us to get our air horn. My heart was racing and, all I could think about was that I was glad Blackie was with Grandma. Protecting her and making sure she was okay during this time. We blew the horn, and Blackie ran out. We did not see Grandma, and the construction crew began tearing down the portables. My heart sank. I thought we had lost her, but two days later, one of our volunteers saw her at night.

This tiny girl was a survivor because she was resilient. She had managed to survive life outdoors all on her own, and when things got a bit hard, she knew who to lean on for some help. As we wipe our tears, we know we have to keep taking care of the rest of the cats. Our focus turns on helping Blackie get through the loss of his mom and making sure that we are there for him, so he can lean on us when times get hard.