The Beginning of Our Journey
It was March 1993. The winter had been hard and she knew she needed to find shelter soon. It was almost time for her babies to come. She had gone several days without food and her belly ached from hunger. But she knew that she didn't have much time so she searched day and night for the right spot...a place where they would be warm and safe. Food could wait one more day. The sky had been gray all week...no sunshine to warm her tired body...then it started to snow. It snowed hard...sometimes so hard that she couldn't see her way ahead but she kept moving...kept searching for just the right spot.
After days of roaming, she finally found it...it was a boat that had been covered with a bright blue tarp for the winter. She struggled so hard...it took all of her strength to tear it off but she did it...found a little spot where she could crawl under the tarp. And, finally, after a very long journey she rested.
Within just a matter of hours, they came...four beautiful kittens. They nursed and she bathed them but she was so tired and cold. The babies slept, unaware of how tired their mommy was...unaware of how much danger was ahead. She struggled to keep warm but finally she just had no more strength. She passed quietly while the babies slept. Now they were all alone.
He was inside wondering when the snow would ever stop. It was very strange for that much snow to hit Richmond...especially in March. The tulips and daffodils were already in bloom but buried under more than 7 inches of snow. As he looked out the window, he noticed the tarp from his prized boat had blown partially off. Must've been that blasted storm. So, he suited up and headed out to check on it and put the tarp safely back on.
At first he thought it was birds chirping. Could birds have gotten underneath the tarp? As he lifted the tarp, he saw her. She was laying on her side. He thought she was just sleeping but when he touched her, he realized she was long gone. Within a split second he understood that the sound he had heard was not birds...it was two of the smallest kittens he had ever seen screaming at the top of their tiny lungs. He quickly took them and rushed them into the barn where it was warm and dry. Once they were settled, he realized he had to tend to their mommy. So, he gently lifted her and the two other babies out of the boat. "Poor little things," he thought, "they never had a chance in this storm."
And that was the beginning for Lucy Margarite and Ricky Eugene Graves. Once the storm subsided, the old farmer called the Humane Society and they gladly took the two little babies in and promised to find a home for them...six weeks later they became my very best friends.
Happy Birthday my sweet angel cats. I miss you both so much. Today, just like every March 13th for the past 15 years, I am going to celebrate all that you taught me every day we were all together. Please keep watching over us all.
Love,
Mommy
