AN AMAZING STORY...NEVER GIVE UP HOPE!

For six years Kitty perched on a windowsill, awaiting a miracle. His story illustrates the amazing, sustaining power of love and hope which transcend time! __________ Waiting To Go Home

Reprinted from "Expect Miracles" by Mary Ellen Miracle Gift Books - Autographed by Mary Ellen - http://angelscribe.com/miraclebooks
 It was 35 years ago that Sister Mary Julia first recounted this touching cat story, recounting it word-for-word again 15 years later. After reading it, you will understand why she never did, or will, forget it.
"An elderly couple arrived at our animal shelter on Vancouver Island holding an orange tabby cat. They seemed hesitant, and somewhat sheepishly the woman said to Mother Superior, 'Our daughter died after an auto accident and her cat refuses to settle into our home without her. Will you please find a home for it?' The couple did not know the cat's age, but Mother Superior accepted it into the shelter. Our shelter had a 'no kill' policy and any animals that were not adopted were welcome to spend the remainder of their lives there. (The shelter has since closed.) After the couple left, Mother Superior asked one of the Sisters to come to the main building and take the cat to the cattery. Our Irish Sister, Mary Brenda, arrived and hand-carried the orange furball to his new home. Usually a new arrival is placed in a protective cage or run for the first 24 hours to settle down and adjust to the atmosphere of free-roving pets. But, as Sister Mary Brenda carried the newly-abandoned cat into the room, it jumped from her arms and leapt onto a window ledge. It sat there, looking down the long driveway. The cat had a look about it that haunted her...it was as if it was searching for something, or someone. From that moment on, the cat stayed in that spot...all the time--for the next six years! The cats had an outside run, but no one saw the orange cat leave its perch to go outside. No one adopted the kitty because of one major problem: He would only let Sister Mary Brenda, who had a gentle way with cats, go near him. Over six years we moved the shelter three times, to three different cities, taking the marmalade-colored cat, which Sister Mary Brenda nicknamed Kitty, along with us. The cattery was a movable trailer unit, and we always relocated the catteries near the driveway entrances to entice prospective pet parents with easier access and availability. Once we moved the cats back into the trailer, Kitty would take his usual position up on the windowsill, resuming his 'driveway watch', and continuing to refuse anyone's touch but Sister Mary Brenda's. Finally, we moved our shelter to a wonderful, large, wooded property. During the day, the cats had free run of 56 acres. At night, they would return to the trailer's shelter to eat. Kitty, once again, never left his window perch! He stayed seated on the windowsill looking out, down the driveway. So heart-wrenching! One afternoon as Mother Superior looked out the office window she saw a car pull into the Shelter's driveway, stop, then the door slowly opened. One wooden crutch emerged followed by another. The woman controlling them ventured out of her car onto the gravel driveway, taking great care with each movement. She moved slowly towards and up the steps to the office. 'I missed my cat over the years,' she said to Mother Superior, 'and I have heard good news about your shelter. I've come to see if I can adopt a cat.' Considering the crutches, Mother Superior asked her if she was capable to look after a cat. The woman explained, 'I was involved in a bad car accident a few years earlier and have had multiple surgeries. Each surgery was followed by extended stays in the hospital. The doctors can't do anything more for me,' she added, 'and I would like a cat to replace the one I had prior to the accident. I loved that cat so much, but it died in my parents' care during one of my long hospital stays.' Mother Superior walked slowly toward the cat shelter with the caring young woman, and the woman carefully stepped inside." At this point in her story Sister Mary Julia paused, visibly moved at reliving the next moment. Her voice cracked as she continued, "Suddenly, with no warning, Kitty flew from his windowsill perch pouncing onto the woman's chest, knocking her backwards to the floor. Mother Superior was horrified at the attack! The young woman was lying on the floor with the orange cat - the same cat she had loved before her accident - on her chest. Her parents had lied to her; it had not died. And they had lied to Mother Superior; their daughter had not died...they just wanted to get rid of the cat! The woman wrapped her arms around her cat, crying and hugging it for dear life. And the cat seemed to be doing the same. He was standing on her, kneading his paws, bumping her face. It was as if the purring cat was trying to love both their hurting spirits back. Watching the ecstatic reunion was so moving that I forgot to get either of their names. Kitty's name will always be a mystery, but I will never ever forget him and his patience and purpose for waiting on that window sill. There was no doubt who this dedicated cat was waiting for. His long wait was now over!" Another amazing aspect of this story is that the young woman could have adopted a cat from many different pet stores or humane societies, but she drove 40 miles out of town to the one shelter where her kitty's heart was calling to her.