Interesting weekend.
I want to say thank you to those that go out with me in the mornings – obviously
thanks to Kings, he has to – ha! But
then there are the volunteers. Joel, for
one, who is always willing, but I mostly use him for his muscle. HA!
When I need help moving stuff. Jackie
occasionally rides, and is a great help.
A girl named Maria went with me recently, and that was awesome. Then there is Sheryl who has gone out with me
just about every Saturday for close to five years. Melissa, my friend Paula’s daughter, has been
offering to go with me on Sundays and just made her third trip with me? Its so nice to have your company, and help. Thank
you.
I delivered the kittens and Buddy the cat to their new
home. What a wonderful family, and what
a wonderful set up they had waiting for them.
They have a room that must be an addition to their older home, that
serves as an office for the Dad. It has
a huge picture window in the back with a bench in front of it, to ‘perch’
on. There are lots of cubby holes for
the kitties to hide in. Paradise, if you
ask me. They were quite nervous at first,
and from what I understand from today, Mara is still very scared, but as I told
Mom Amy, she has gone through a lot in her short time in captivity – she went
from the ‘family’ she knew there, to Melissa’s house with older cats, and then
Pebbles joining, and then being uprooted to my house for a night, and now at
this new house with more new people, and Buddy!
Its easier for older cats to transition, and easier still for kittens,
but Mara is in a formative kitten stage, and that might be why she is still
scared. I have every confidence with
over attention and love, she will come around.
They always do. Some take longer
than others.
I had an interesting Sunday morning, where Melissa rode with
me. We were on Second and Central, doing
the mailbox kitties, when a man was walking toward us with white pants, a red
cap, and NO SHIRT ON. It was 31
degrees. I was out of the truck pouring
food, Melissa was tucked in in the back seat.
As he got closer he asked if I had a light. I told him I didn’t, and he kept
walking. I yelled after to him – ‘are you
all right?’ He said he was fine but he
was going to kill his parents – as he pulled out an 8-inch knife from his
pocket’. He seemed a bit incoherent, and
I just thought he was drunk, which he probably was. He kept walking. Well, if there was ever a time to call 911,
this was it. I did, and gave them all
the details. As I drove off, I thought –
I wonder if they will show up. There
have been times where something crazy is happening, and they are no where in
sight, and I have to leave because of timing.
Like the dog, for instance. The little
pup I found dead in a carrier this summer.
This time, I drove around and got back on Bay Street, which was the way
this guy was headed. Looking up and
down, still no sign of the police, and the guy was walking down Bay Street now,
heading west. I drove past him, made a
turn around farther up ahead, and started to drive back. He was gone.
He must have gone down a side street.
I drove to First Street, where its one way, heading north, and I saw him
still walking. I turned left onto the
street, going the wrong way. Hey, its 4 in the morning, and there are no cops
around! I decided to start talking to
him, keep distance and safety inside the truck.
Long story short, I began to ask him questions, and offering a blanket I
had in the car. I asked him why he
wanted to kill his parents (father and brother jumped him for defending his
uncle), where the knife was (he threw it down, thinking I was a cop), where his
parents lived (7th Street), what his name was (Ulysses ________ ) –
he told me he was a welder. I told him
he would mess up his life if he did harm to his parents – he told me he pays
child support, he’s on probation, he was going nowhere – he didn’t care … I told him his child needed him. I told him that tomorrow is a new day. I told him, today is Sunday, go to
church. He began to cry and said he had
no one to talk to. I told him I would
talk to him as long as I could. My eyes
teared up. Meanwhile, I am still going 2
miles an hour while he walked on the side walk.
Finally, after more talk, (and no cops!), he said he was going to take a
short cut to home (through a vacant lot) and I told him good bye, wished him
well, and turned around. Of course, two
minutes later, the police called me asking where he was. I told them, but God only knows if they found
him. I just pray he didn’t do anything
stupid, and finds peace. He obviously has
problems, and a life that is different than us, but he is still a human being
who deserves at least someone to talk to.
On a brighter note, I got a call from a girl a few
weeks back, who knew someone who had
kittens and a mother under their porch. This guy was feeding the kittens on his
porch, and needed help. This girl
reached out, and reluctantly, I said I would take the kittens if she could trap
them. I told her time was of the
essence, and if she was going to do it, it needed to be done, and come get my
kitten traps. She did, and voila, here
we have four beautiful sweet kittens that we got just before they turned feral. This girl is going to try to trap momma. Thanks to foster Sue, they are now bathed and
warm in her house, playing for the first time in captivity, with real toys!
We also have an adoption pending by my neighbor for
Katie! The sweet old gal that Foster
Carol is harboring! Fingers crossed!
"Too often we
underestimate the power
of a touch, a smile, a kind
word, a listening ear,
an honest compliment,
or the smallest act of
caring, all of which
have the potential
to turn a life around."
