Gloria

This past weekend, I made a connection.

I was volunteering with the cat shelter in New York.

"Don't come back with cats," Delta told me as I left for the shelter that morning. There was a note of pleading in his voice, as though he'd already resigned himself to the possibility.
"of course not," I'd said, knowing fully well that there was a fifty-fifty chance that I might.

I mean, how can one look at those round innocent eyes, hear the pleading mews, feel the soft purr as you cuddle them, and not want to take them all home?! I was actually astounded by my own resilience, when I returned home that afternoon sans mewer.

There was one cat, Gloria, with whom I made a special connection. The first time, as I walked past her cage, she suddenly stuck both her arms out through the bars. "Miaow!" she barked at me, and so I stopped short. I stretched my hand out towards the bars, and instantly she was upon it, rubbing her face against my fingers and purring loudly. So what could I do? I crouched beside the cage to give her a thorough petting. I guess that's all she was looking for, really, because instantly her mew changed to a rumbling purr. And that was the moment which sealed our special friendship. As I continued on to feeding the other cats and cleaning out their cages, Gloria kept an eye out for me the entire time. Each time I'd pass her cage, even if from a few feet away, she'd hurl herself at the front of the cage, stick her arms out through the bars, and call "miaow!!" loud enough to grab my attention. And of course, each time my heart would melt, and I would simply have to stop to pet her.

So there we were, Gloria and me, in our uncanny, albeit momentary, friendship. Just now as I was writing the blog, I went to the NYACC website to look for a picture of her, and I couldn't find her anymore on the 'for adoption' list. I wish I could have shown her, she was a beautiful grey tabby with mischievous eyes.

But I hope this means a loving family took her home. I hope they realise how she likes her head stroked and belly rubbed, and how she likes to be cuddled in your arms just so.