Hi everyone! Today is my first day of the 29 day challenge! I listened to 29 gifts this week during my bike commute and laughed, cried, and my heart was touched over and over again.
I have been volunteering for the last 3 years at a cat shelter in Columbus, Ohio called Cat Welfare. From the very start I gravitated to the "sick cat" rooms (FIV+, FeLV+). I started volunteering in these rooms because at the time I had 7 cats of my own and didn't want to bring more cats home (spoiler alert, it didn't work!). Over the past three years I've gotten to spend so much time with these special and almost always overlooked cats that live in their own isolated rooms in the back of the shelter. Almost a year ago a very sick fellow came in, "Charlie Brown". I've been obsessing over him all year because he had all of his teeth removed when arriving to the shelter due to the poor quality of his mouth and so his tongue is almost always hanging out! I LOVE when a cat does that. His health and personality have improved all year long and I've watched him blossom into a quiet, sun loving, senior kitty.
This year I've lost 3 of my cats, but I've have stayed steady at 7 cats because I continue to find special, older, overlooked gems at the shelter. So today, in honor of the solstice and the return to light, I have finally decided to give the gift of a forever home to Charlie Brown, now Gilbert. He's such a darling and I'm so thankful I'm in the position to bring him home (but this is the last one until we lose another, I swear!). So tonight Gilbert is settling into his room and I can't help but feel that this is also a little gift to myself too!
