Happy New Year! Here’s to an even better 2012.
We have had a remarkable year at AWS. We have seen some of our longtime residents get adopted into their forever homes. Whether we ended the year with a bang or started the new year with joyful hope, anyway you look at it, it is a positive. What never fails to amaze us is when people come in asking to see our longest resident at the shelter. They aren’t looking for perfection (that would be boring), only they have the love and compassion needed to take these animals into their homes and give them the love and security that has been long overdue.
The most recent Christmas miracle was when a lady came in wanting us to show her which cats had been here the longest. We showed her Curtis, Annie, Whisper and Porter. Any one of these would have been a great choice. She chose Whisper. Whisper is an older gal that had been with us way too long. We tried everything to get her adopted. One of our volunteers had a soft spot in her heart for Whisper and would always give her extra love and attention. She had resolved herself to the thought that Whisper might never get adopted and the shelter would be her “home” for the rest of her days.
Whisper spent her time sitting on the window sill looking outside. When I came in one morning and was told Whisper had been adopted, I was floored! I called Marianne right away to give her an early Christmas present with the news of Whisper’s leaving us. She almost couldn’t speak. She was in shock! All her hard work had paid off. It was indeed the best present she could have gotten, and, most important, Whisper found a home for Christmas.
We have already been updated with her progress, and from day one she seemed to ease into family life. Now she has a house to explore and a window sill all to herself to relax on and watch the world go by. Congratulations, Whisper, and may you live a long and happy life in your new home! To Whisper’s new “mommy,” you really are an angel for seeing the good in one of our older, longtime residents.
I recently came upon a quote that, to me, says it all. “Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened.” I don’t know when people come to love and respect animals, if it is something we are born with or learn from our environment, but to me it is as natural as breathing and lives deep inside me. My children were all raised with animals, and they have love and compassion for all creatures, big or small. My grandson is being raised in a home with a dog and cat, and he has learned from an early age they are part of the family and have feelings and should be treated that way. Whenever Liam comes to my house, one of the first things he does is go looking for my “kitzies” and my dog “eta” (Pita). Just the sight of them makes his whole face light up with happiness.
That is exactly how I feel whenever I walk into our shelter and am greeted by all our floor cats. I always give all our “boys” and “girls” a big hello and ask how their night was. A lot of them are big talkers, especially when they are hungry, and answer me back. You may be mistaken and think our shelter or any shelter is a sad place, but you couldn’t be more wrong. It is a “jumping” place with loads of activity. How can it not be when you have cats stalking and capturing toy mice and helping with overseeing your chores? Step back into our dog kennels and you get greetings so loud and wags that could knock you over. How could you not smile or respond to that?
The next time you are standing by a stranger or pass someone new in a grocery store, give the person a warm smile. Who knows, it just might be an angel among us. You know who you are!
