Fingerprint Friday---Love Lives On

Fingerprint Friday is hosted by Beki.

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:

I can see the fingerprints of God

When I look at you

I can see the fingerprints of God

And I know it's true

You're a masterpiece

That all creation quietly applauds

And you're covered with the fingerprints of God

I invite you to read the companion post to this entry.

It can be found here.

I can't say that I planned to do these two posts at the beginning of this week. In fact, I had something completely different in mind. Yet I have continued to get more than gentle nudgings...and have been almost driven to finish them.

So, there he is...there's Humphrey again! He's sleeping in my chair...that was one of his favorite spots. You might notice the bald spot on his front leg...that's where they had shaved him to give him an IV. Oddly enough, this was long before he presented with lymphoma. This was "simply" an bad upper respiratory infection that had left him pretty dehydrated.

A month or so after Humphrey passed, I wrote a letter to all of his doctors, thanking them for everything they had done. I quoted a portion of that letter in my last post and I would like to quote another portion to begin this one! The first few sentences will be a repeat...

"Do I want another one like him? Absolutely not. Would I take him back? In an instant. And frankly, it truly wouldn’t surprise me if he DID show up again. I mean, God has a lot of patience…but please…this is HUMPHREY!"

In the previous post I also spoke of being so very angry with God. I had believed right up until we said goodbye to him that God was going to grant us a miracle and heal him yet again. It was just this morning that I realized God did grant me a miracle...one so wonderful...like a glimpse into Heaven itself. Lesson learned? Yes love lives on...but perhaps more importantly? Don't pigeon hole God! He's GOD! He can do ANYTHING! Miracles can be simple or they can be extraordinary. Don't think that just because you didn't get the miracle YOU expected that He doesn't have something even more miraculous planned for you. And so, I will try to lay out these miracles for you...from the simple...to the extraordinary!

The day after he passed...this is where we found our other furry boy, Gus. He was sleeping in "Humphrey's chair"...and no...he had never even attempted to sleep there previously. We thought it was so sweet and so sad at the same time. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but the doll Gussie is leaning against? She's covered in Humphrey's fur.

Gus also picked up another "habit" of Humphrey's. Gus joined our family as an adult cat. He had been abandoned at a horse barn and was taken in by a feline rescue group. When we brought him home it was like letting a "Cave Cat" loose in modern society. We had to teach him everything...and what we didn't...Humphrey did. Humphrey used to do something to both Garry and I that we called "polishing." He would stand on his back legs and rub his paws back and forth, up and down, on the backs of OUR legs. In my case, he frequently polished my back pockets! I can't tell you how many times he would come up behind me while I was working at the computer and polish my back pockets through the slats in my desk chair. About a month before Humphrey left us, Gus started doing the same thing...and continues to do it...just a little lower...he is shorter you know. Love lives on.

Love lives on every spring as I watch and wait for my Bleeding Hearts to come up. My pink Bleeding Heart plant came from a start of my grandmother's plant. Grandma passed when I was 12 so I think you can see how important that plant is to me. I also have a pure white one. Garth and Humphrey's ashes are buried beneath two pink plants, and Horatio's are beneath the pure white one. I cry every year when those tender shoots peek out of the cold, hard ground...they make my heart smile.

A few months after Humphrey crossed The Rainbow Bridge, another furry boy joined our family. His name is Wally. To read his beginnings please visit here.

Yes...that's Wally. And that's a pretty typical pose for him. He is the silliest cat I've ever known. I think he's upside down more than not! He hadn't been with us very long before we started noticing some similarities to Humphrey. Sure, he liked to get into trouble...but nothing like Humphrey did. We just attributed these similarities to his age and getting used to a new home and new family. Yeah...right.

I invite you to look at these two pictures...

Yeah, ok...I'll give you that one...most cats like to get up on the kitchen table.

How about these?

Nope? Ok...cats like kitchen counters too...but the same one...in the same spot?

How about a shared fascination with Hope...at the table? And no, she didn't feed either one of them.

In fact, neither one would/will have anything to do with her unless she is at the table or if she is asleep.

Both of them loved/love to grab a nap on my collection of Ragamuffins.

No? Still not buying it? Ok...let's move on into the extraordinary then.

Humphrey, as most cats do, had many different vocalizations. One was his deep, guttural, yowl. When we lived at our old place he would stare at one spot on the wall in the dining room and just let loose with THE most horrendous yowling. When we moved here, he'd do it in the basement. I can still see our friends Carol and Tom's faces the first time they heard him do it. He sounded like he was caught in a leg hold trap.

Shortly after Wally came to live with us I was sitting at the computer and I heard it...the horrendous, deep, guttural yowl. Convinced that Humphrey truly had returned I jumped up so fast I overturned my chair. I raced through the house searching for him when I got to the foyer...and saw Wally...staring at one spot on the wall...and making that vocalization.

On several other occasions he has come up behind me in my computer chair and polished my pockets through the slats. And no, Gus didn't teach him that...Gus isn't tall enough to do that...nor has he ever tried. That was a Humphrey behavior. Love lives on.

Every single Christmas, as soon as I would put down our tree skirt? Humphrey was under it. He was an absolute menace. It was always in a ball or sometimes dragged off to the side of the tree.

Our first Christmas with Wally? Take a look...

He dove under there as soon as I put it down...yet stayed only long enough for me to take a couple of pictures...and he's never bothered it since.

Humphrey loved to hang out in the bathroom with me. His favorite thing was to make a pass or two by the shower while I was in there and give me another one of his little vocalizations. Guess who else does the same thing?

When we moved into this house, for whatever reason, on every major holiday, Humphrey decided he must kill his brother. No matter WHAT brother was living here at the time! He would get very aggressive, chase them through the house, and try to deliver a "kill bite" to the backs of their necks. I remind you, Wally did not come to live here until after Humphrey passed...and yet...on every major holiday...yep...my hand to my heart...poor Gus needs to run for cover.

On more than one occasion, Wally has gotten up on something he's not supposed to. Most times he listens when you say, "Wally! Down!" Sometimes he doesn't. On the first such occasion I decided to try an experiment. I said, "Humphrey! Down!" He got down.

And finally...this one...this one is truly my glimpse into Heaven. Again, in my previous post I spoke of how Humphrey would appear out of nowhere when he would hear me getting my allergy pill before bed. He would then present his tail, I would take it, and he would walk me up the stairs to bed each and every night. Well my friends...Wally comes when he hears my allergy pills...and once...just one perfect, precious, miraculous time...he offered me his tail...I took it...and he led me up the stairs to bed. I was sobbing buckets by the time I got there.

Do we think Wally *is* Humphrey? No, not at all. We do say that his black part is Humphrey...but the white part is ALL Wally! We think...and we believe that Wally was chosen for us before Humphrey left us...so that we could have irrefutable proof...that love lives on.

Be blessed...and thanks for reading!

Fingerprints Of God can be found on my playlist at the bottom of this page.

Another bunch of disjointed ramblings...

Another word about comments...when someone leaves a comment on the blog I'm supposed to get an email telling me about it. Sometimes this happens...sometimes it doesn't! LOL If I have missed replying to someone's comment please forgive me. The only way I find out about some of them is if I stumble upon one when I'm typing a new post.

My humblest apologies to our neighborhood for the state of my flowerbeds. I'm embarrassed that I've let them go so badly this season. I found out it took me much longer than I would've hoped to get used to taking care of two kids, a house, two cats...etc.! Once I finally figured out how to juggle all of that, along came my surgery/surgeries and I wasn't ALLOWED to play in my overgrown weed patches. My landscaping suffered greatly. I promise to do better next year!

The boys get along like they were littermates. I still can't get over it. I've never had two cats get along let alone love each other like these two do. The girls think they are endlessly fascinating and Claire is madly in love with Gus who just lies there purring and lets her do just about whatever she wants. Yet another double blessing from God.

And yes, I'm going to talk about my cats if I want to. They are just as much a part of my family as my girls. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you don't understand it there's nothing I can do or say that will illuminate it for you. You either get it or you don't. I'm not being snide or sarcastic so please don't read that tone into my words. I'm only saying, either you're an animal person or you're not. If you're not, please don't hold it against those of us who are! ")

The girls are growing and changing every single day. They have both gotten so TALL! We went for our first vacation as a family of four in late August. We spent five days or so in and around Frankenmuth, Michigan. It was so much fun...but I was glad to get home too! The girls had a blast. They loved Bronner's...they are their Mama's daughters after all. The last time Garry and I were there was two months before we received our referral for Hope. We had visited many times before and found it such a special place. We purchased our stockings there...one for Mama, one for Daddy, and one for Hope...whom we hadn't even seen yet. The emotions that washed over me as I walked through those doors again...this time not only with Hope but with Claire who wasn't even a THOUGHT the last time we were there. And of course, we bought Claire *her* stocking on this trip. ")

Hope started her second year of preschool in September. She has the same teacher she did last year and she's in the same room...and she loves it! I pray she can *always* be this excited about school. She is still into Lilo and Stitch...loves to play with Little People...likes to visit the library and devours just about any book you hand her...still obsessed with Little Einsteins...and she loves her little sister.

One of the mother's at Hope's preschool whose child was also returning this fall saw Claire and said, "She's not a baby anymore! She's a real live toddler!" Yeah, she's her own person. She has the strongest personality of any human being, adult OR child, I've ever known. She's got a temper like nothing I've ever witnessed...and of course have had jokes tossed my way about my *own* temper. ") She will literally eat just about anything and in huge amounts. She is not only walking, but running and climbing as well. She does a lot of talking...we can make out most of it but I wouldn't put anyone else on the spot! LOL She's got her own words and sounds for a lot of things...and most of them sound very similar. Our pediatrician's have assured us that this is normal and she's exactly where she's supposed to be developmentally. She knows everyone in our family and calls us by name. I am Mama. Garry is Da-Da. Hope is Puh-Puh. Gus is Guh. And Wally? Well, I'm not really sure how to spell her version of Wally! LOL She is another little beacon. People flock to her just like they did and continue to do with Hope.

I love both of my girls fiercely...but don't think for a moment that life with them is all hearts and flowers! LOL As much as they adore each other there are screaming fits...both individually and together! Today they were fighting over a toy. I put the toy in timeout. I've found that's more effective that putting the girls in timeout! We've had some small jealousy issues but really nothing major. In short they're perfectly normal sisters.

A word about posting pictures...I'm becoming increasingly uneasy about posting pictures of my girls online. There are too many nutjobs out there that will snag pictures of children and do God only knows with them. At one point I had some posted at Yahoo photos. They could only be seen by folks I allowed to see them. Yahoo photos is no more...so I've got some up at facebook.com. It's not foolproof but at least I can attempt to restrict their viewing to people I know.

Hope and I decorated the house for Halloween this week. She is so excited about trick or treat...and so am I! ") I've waited so long to have two that can share a "theme"! LOL Terri, you will enjoy this...

Last year I looked all over for a Stitch costume for Claire. I had high hopes she'd be home for Halloween and I wanted to dress the girls like Lilo and Stitch. Hey, it isn't hard. Hope wants to be that EVERY year! The only ones I could find were for beaucoup bucks and I couldn't see paying that amount of money and not knowing what size she'd be or even if she'd be here. SO! This year, after MANY years of coaxing, Hope agreed to be Mulan. I was just about doing cartwheels in the street. I went online trying to find a Mushu costume for Claire. Again, if I wanted to pay $40-$60 it wasn't a problem. So I thought maybe I'd dress her like Yoda...simply because I'm insane and I think it would be hilarious. Last year AFTER Halloween, I bought several costumes for next to nothing that were on clearance at The Disney Store. We gave some to Hope for Christmas and some for her birthday. She uses them to play dress up. One of them was a Hula Lilo costume. It still fits her perfectly...so I said to her, "Would you like to wear your Hula Lilo costume this year and maybe Claire can dress like Stitch?" She was jumping up and down she was so excited. I went straight to eBay, found a brand new one in Claire's size, and got it for less than $25 WITH shipping and insurance. It arrived yesterday. It is simply ridiculous how excited I am about it! LOL

A word for those still waiting for referrals...AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! My heart just aches for these folks! CCAA just finished matching babies to parents whose LID's went to the end of November...*2005*! To put that into perspective...our LID was September 5, 2005. Claire has been home for almost nine months. People whose LID's were only three months after ours are still waiting to see a picture of their baby. AND, geez I thought "The Great LID Mix-Up" was horrifying. That doesn't even begin to compare with what's going on now. You can read about it starting here. You will end up at the Rumor Queen's site. You are looking for posts titled "A Mystery", "Still A Mystery", and "Trying to Solve the Mystery". To Cheri, Shane, and everyone else still waiting...JUST HOLD ON! YOU ARE SO CLOSE!

I've rambled long enough. I'm headed over to facebook to play Scrabble. I am hopelessly addicted to online scrabble and am currently playing 13 games. ")

Barb, if you are reading this please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you! ")

Blessings y'all!

Allow me to introduce you to our newest family member. This is Wally!

I first spoke of Wally in early June. I also told you that he had his own story. Read on if you care to!

I always knew I would have another kitty after Humphrey passed. As angry as I was at God, I knew He would bring another furry soul into my life. Remember? TRUST ME.

I had decided that we would give Wendy at Kitten Krazy a call at the end of June...and I was checking the website at least once a day looking at precious little faces. Yeah, well, you know what they say about best laid plans. Suddenly I had surgery scheduled for the end of June. So, I decided the end of July. Oh...I am so funny! It appears I still haven't caught on that my timing and God's timing aren't anywhere near being in synch.

Garry took Gus for a routine vet visit and came home with a message for me from Dr. Arends. Apparently she said, "You have to PROMISE to tell Melissa. I have a cat for you." Garry said, "I don't want a cat." She said, "I know. But tell Melissa." He said, "What's wrong with it?" She said, "Absolutely nothing. That's why I'm telling you about him. You guys need a break. I've already called and talked to the foster home. He's yours if you want him." As he is relaying this information to me I ask, "What color is he?" When he said black and white I started crying. I couldn't deal with another black kitty so soon...even though Hope had told me right after Humphrey passed that our next kitty would be black. I continued asking questions through the tears and found out that he had been found in a Wal-Mart parking lot about a year ago. He was rescued by Save Ohio Strays, named Wally, and put into foster care. Dr. Arends said she had kept him for awhile until a foster home opened up. I immediately went online and located his picture on the Save Ohio Strays website. I didn't get any feelings other than I was glad to see that he seemed to be EQUAL parts black and white.

The next couple of days I'd keep checking to see if he was still available and that silly face started growing on me. Garry called and made an appointment for us to meet him on a Sunday. I filled out the adoption application online...which by the way was only SLIGHTLY less involved than what we did for our girls! LOL I started to talk about him to Hope who immediately started calling him Sam because, and I quote, "MY favorite store is Sam's Club." So we called him Sam.

Sunday arrived and the family piled into the car to go and meet Wally...errr...Sam. When we got to the nice lady's home she welcomed us into her living room. Wally was in a large cage in the center of the room. Garry and the girls sat on the couch...I sat on the floor in front of the cage. I believe the nice lady's name was Teri. She opened the cage and Wally shot out. He went behind the couch, did a slow lap around the room, came up behind me, and laid down against my back. Yeah...I started crying. He rubbed up against me, let me pet him, and purred up a storm. He really didn't want much to do with Garry and the girls but what do you expect? Hope was dying to touch him and Claire was leaping around like a jumping bean! In case you haven't already figured it out, we brought him home! On the drive home Garry and I decided that he really "looked" like a Wally and tried to persuade Hope of the same. She came around, but only if his middle name was Sam. Thus was born Wally Sam!

If you haven't seen God's Hand in this yet, read on. When Horatio passed I told Garry that when I was ready for another cat I was going to ask Dr. Arends for assistance in choosing one. I trust her...yes I TRUST her. I never said anything to her...nor did he. He stopped into the clinic one afternoon for some food and as he was talking with her she said, "I'm scared to death Melissa is going to ask me to help her choose a cat. I don't want to! There just aren't any guarantees!" So when he came home in June and said SHE had a cat for me? Well, enough said.

Still need convincing? He and Gus get along so well it is scary. They eat together, play together, wash each other, and sleep on me in the bed together. I've NEVER had two cats get along as well as they do...and so quickly. It was literally a matter of DAYS.




And in case you are wondering...Wally is VERY much like Humphrey. He has MANY behaviors that were unique to Humphrey and whenever he demonstrates them, no matter how frustrated I may be, it is like receiving a hug from Heaven. He also has his own personality as well. We've decided that Wally is really an all white cat and that his black parts are from Humphrey. He is yet another precious gift from God to our family...and yes...he likes the girls too.

God's blessings to you! ")

P.S. If you've been wondering where I've been lately...I'm hanging out at facebook.com! Yep, I'm helping to show all those youngsters that folks over 40 can have a "social network" too! Come and visit...look me up! ")

I've held it together for this long...and right now I feel like a shell of what I should be...no...more like a dried husk.

I won't bore you with all of the details but about six months ago I had a pretty scary health moment. Over a period of 2-3 months I had three ultrasounds, an MRI, a CT scan, and an ultrasound guided biopsy. Praise God on high everything turned out just fine!

Recently I went in for my six month follow-up MRI. Again...they found "something". I had to have an ultrasound and they couldn't find the "something" on it. So now I have to have an MRI guided biopsy. I can only imagine that's an "in the machine...out of the machine...in the machine...out of the machine" procedure. I also had my 6 month follow-up CT scan yesterday...no results yet...and frankly I'm glad. I don't WANT any more results.

God has held me up and kept me strong during all of this. I know it's Him because strong is really not a word I would ever use to describe myself. I had a doctor tell me recently, "I'm sorry this ruined your Easter." WHAT? I said, "This didn't ruin my Easter! You can't ruin Easter!" And you know what is even more amazing to me that I said that? The fact that I BELIEVE it! How can you ruin God's promise of everlasting life?! He looked at me like I was nuts...whatever! His loss!

I've been no stranger to health scares for the last 5-6 years. They used to petrify me and render me absolutely useless. Now I can actually function and find myself FORGETTING about them most of the time. I have decided I will NOT live my life from crisis to crisis. I'm going to enjoy each and every day of life that God grants me.

Now, what is TRULY bothering me? Humphrey. Here is this gorgeous creature that God has placed in my care for the last ten years. The week Garry left for China Humphrey presented with a lump on his foot which turned out to be cancer. The toe was removed...it spread to his lymph nodes. He went through two different types of chemo...nothing. He had one big whompin' surgery on the 6th to remove one big whompin' lymph node. He came home the 9th...looking like Franken-Kitty with a huge scar and a lot of shaved areas...but he was still Humphrey. As the days went by he became more and more listless...ate less and less...finally stopped eating all together. We took him in yesterday and they gave him some fluids and some appetite stimulants. He was much happier...ate a little bit...but still not Humphrey. He went back to the hospital today where they are keeping him for 24 hours on an IV to completely rehydrate him. If he doesn't start eating on his own, they'll syringe-feed him. Sounds horrible...it isn't...they did that with Garth once and he bounced back just fine. So why am I so worried? They did an ultrasound and a biopsy of his liver today. There are cells present that don't belong there. They could be the start of fatty liver disease...or they could be the lymphoma that has spread. The sample was sent out to the lab and we'll know for sure tomorrow. At this point we are all praying for fatty liver disease because even though it is horrible it can be turned around. If it is lymphoma...well...the chemo doesn't work.

What do I *want* to do? I want to go outside, stand in the middle of the street, scream at the top of my lungs and throw rocks at cars. I want to toss every single thing off of my desk and slam it into the wall. I want to take a sledge hammer to the side of my house. What *will* I do? I'll continue to pray on Humphrey's behalf. I'll continue to believe that God knows what He is doing even though I can't fathom why we'd be going through this with yet another kitty in such a short time span. And of course, I'll cry. You know...I haven't until today...and they just won't stop.

Well, the phone just rang with my CT scan results. Praise God, everything is fine and I do NOT have to have any further follow-up having to do with that part of the problem. Which, strangely, makes me feel worse. Again, I can handle *my* scares...it's the ones where ANY of my kids are concerned that simply tear me up. I called Garry and gave him the good news...and then sobbed. He said, "It's ok to get good news. You don't have to feel guilty about YOU getting a good report. Your report and Humphrey's report are mutually exclusive events." I *know* he's right...but at this point in time, that doesn't make me feel any better.

So I guess while we're waiting for his results and while he's in the hospital I can go back to sleeping in my bed. Yes, I was sleeping on the bathroom floor with Humphrey. He had to be confined so he wouldn't pull his surgical staples out jumping, climbing stairs etc. I wanted to be with him every minute I could. If you think I'm nuts, there's nothing I can do to change your mind! He's my child and has been since God sent him to me all of those years ago. Deal with it!

Hope stayed home from preschool today. She's coming down with something. I was almost grateful. This morning was filled with chicken noodle soup, applesauce, Tylenol, and Vicks. It was almost a blessing having a patient who could TELL me what was wrong.

In her short life she has lost two of the only four kitties she has ever known...and believe me...she's worried about Humphrey too. Yesterday she said, "Mama? Is Humphrey going to be all right?" I told her the only truth I know..."I don't know. We just have to trust his doctors and keep praying."

She sees me going into hospitals and doctors' offices and she gets very nervous. "Daddy? Is Mama coming home?" I've told her over and over and over that good forever mamas and daddies always come home. I'm afraid Satan uses that line over and over in my head as I go through my medical tests. I am more afraid of leaving my two girls without a mother...again...than I am of what might be wrong with me. Then there is the logical portion of my brain...roughly the size of a pea...no surprise to anyone who knows me. I'm not exactly known for my logic...I'm more about the emotion. The logical portion of my brain keeps reminding me...you know...you've been lucky so many times...the odds are against you on this one...eventually you're going to get bad news.

So that's what's going on here! I don't tell you this for sympathy or kudos or prayers...I tell you because I needed to get it OUT of me...and blogging is cheaper than therapy!

For those of you who don't know Humphrey's story I will post it below. This version appeared at my now defunct website; Prayer, Praise & Peace! Take care y'all...until next time...

Angels Don't Necessarily Have To Be Human---by Mel and Barb

This is my very favorite personal angel experience. A lot of joy has come out of so much pain. Be forewarned...this one is a long one and has been known to bring tears!

My husband Garry and I have been making yearly pilgrimages to Williamsburg, Virginia for close to eight years now. At one point we were going up to 2 or 3 times a year. During our September of '96 trip we ran into a giant black ball of fur, purrs, and love named Humphrey. I fell madly in love with Humphrey and after spending close to ten days with him I sobbed when I had to leave him. Had he been a stray, he would have come home with us, but he belonged to the gents in the Harness and Saddlemaker's Shop. He was not only their friend, he was their mascot!

While we were driving home in the pitch black we were listening to the radio and the song called "Angels Among Us" by Alabama came on. I turned my head to the passenger window and started weeping, thinking about Humphrey, but never said a word or made a sound. Being the wonderful husband that he is, Garry reached over, touched my leg and said, "I think Humphrey was an angel sent down to you too."

When he suggested that we head back down in April of '97, I was ecstatic! I'd get to see Humphrey all that much sooner! As soon as we arrived in Colonial Williamsburg we made a bee-line for the garden behind The Cole Shop, the historical trade building where the harness and saddlemakers work. We searched and searched but couldn't find Humphrey anywhere. When we went into the shop and asked where he was, we were told that he had died the day before. We felt so horrible! The next few days we just kind of wandered around in a fog, and I felt like a real moron for reminding the poor guys that their buddy was gone!

When I got home I typed out the following letter and mailed it off to them:

April 21, 1997

Dear Gentlemen,

Words can not adequately express the sadness that I felt upon learning of the death of your wonderful cat, Humphrey. The grief that I felt was overwhelming...I can't even imagine what you must be going through. Had I known the answer, I most likely wouldn't have asked where he was when we visited the shop last week.

I had dubbed Humphrey my "surrogate cat" when I first met him in September of 1996. My husband and I had made our yearly two week trip to Williamsburg and I was missing my own pet terribly. Around dusk on one of our first nights there, we were exploring the garden behind The Cole Shop looking for a squirrel or some other sort of soft, furry creature to annoy when we were startled by a streak of black leaping from amongst the flowers. I said, "How did you know that I needed to see a kitty?" To which that streak of black replied, "Riouw!" This was our first encounter with dear Humphrey. He immediately walked over to me and looked up as if to say, "Well? Aren't you going to pet me?" I sat down on the steps of the laundry and as if he'd known me all of his life, pounced upon my lap, tags jingling! He settled in like he was right at home and that spot was where we met almost nightly for close to ten days. So many people would come through and ask if he were mine...I always responded the same, "No, he's everybody's cat." I have a feeling that Humphrey's reputation is known far and wide.

Humphrey was a fellow who knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to demand it. He demanded to be loved and had no problem expressing his appreciation for it! He was possibly the kindest soul, feline or otherwise, that I have ever encountered. Humphrey was an exceptional feline, but I don't need to tell you that. I can only imagine that God needed a good lap cat and there was only one choice. I can just see the old boy nipping at His flowing robes for attention...can't you?

A donation will be made in Humphrey's name to a no kill shelter in our area. And if a stray massive ball of black fur ever wanders into our back yard we've already got a name picked out.

Again, I offer our sincere sympathy. When you hang his collar up at the shop, give the tags a jingle for me. Colonial Williamsburg has truly lost one of its best ambassadors.

Sincerely,
Garry and Melissa

I had all but forgotten about that letter when the following letter arrived inside a beautiful sympathy card:

9 May 1997

Dear Melissa and Garry,

I don't quite know where to begin to thank you for your condolences about Humphrey. Before I started writing to you I read again your letter and my tears are back. Your letter is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. All of us who loved Humpty passed around copies of the letter, and all of us cried together. You expressed so lovingly what we could not put into words. My first thought when I was told he was gone was why? I'm angry, very angry with God. And then, later on the 17th of April, I thanked God for letting me know and love Humpty for even the short time I knew him. I used to go down on my lunch break every day to sit and snuggle with him. Sometimes he'd be visiting his friend across the street and I would have to miss him. But I can't tell you how many times Humpty got me smiling again.

Did you notice he had little, tiny, golden spots on the top of his head? Those were his "angel kisses"--now I know he is on a heavenly lap just as you said.

Eric, the Englishman at The Harness Shop, took Humpty home and buried him under a white azalea bush. That is the only bush that is ablaze with blooms according to Eric.

I've enclosed the "obit" I had put in the CWF news. Plus two pictures of happier times. (That's me with my boy)

Thank you both so much for caring to write. Your words and thoughts touched us deeply.

Barbara

Greenhow Store
Colonial Williamsburg

You can't imagine how touched I was to receive the card, letter, pictures and obit of my surrogate kitty. On the back of one of the pictures, Barbara had written, "Humphrey, The Angel Kitty.

But wait! There's more!!!

In June of 1997, we went to Petsmart to get some food for our rather large and very spoiled cat Garth who was six at the time. As usual, I ended up cooing at all of the animals that they had up for adoption. There was a cage of little black and white kittens and I was petting them and talking to them and basically doing my own thing. All of them were rubbing all over me except one who was in the back of the cage sleeping. I don't know why I did this, but I said, "Humphrey? Is that you?" The little sleeping one stood up, yawned, walked up to the cage door, and kissed my face. Under his chin was a white spot that was exactly the size of a white azalea bloom. Yes, I started to cry again and he came home with us.

Things weren't all that rosy for quite awhile after that. He was very sick for almost his entire first year of life. Our vets told us that they were really kind of surprised that he lived through it. It's really just been in the last six months or so that Garth has finally decided that he likes him and we've had him for three years now! We, of course, named him Humphrey and as near as our vets can determine, he was born the same week that Humphrey Sr. died.

When we went back to Williamsburg in September of '97 I was determined to meet Barbara and thank her for her kindness. We stopped in The Greenhow Store several times a day for an entire week before I spotted someone that "kind of" looked like the pictures she had sent. When I walked up to the counter she didn't look like she was having a very good day. She was rolling her eyes and letting out these huge sighs! When I finally mustered up enough courage to approach her I kind of whispered, "Are you Barbara?" She said, "Who wants to know?!"

Ok...I'm really scared now! I said, "I'm Melissa. You sent me the sympathy card for Humphrey." Her whole demeanor changed dramatically! She almost jumped over the counter trying to get to me! She grabbed hold of my hands and wouldn't let go! The first thing she asked me was, "Have you met Ralph?"

"Umm...no," I replied. "But I did meet Murphy!" (Murphy is the new ball of black fur that now resides at The Saddler's!)

She said, "You've got to meet Ralph and see what he did!" She grabbed me and off the three of us went down the street in search of Ralph. (We never did find him!)

We stopped at The Shoemaker's Shop and were introduced to Donna, who had first rescued Humphrey and brought him to The Saddler's. She told me that she had a copy of my letter framed at her house. Then she took us down to meet Eric, who was Humphrey's Dad. He wasn't in the shop, but he was in the building behind the shop that used to be the laundry, now it's like their break room and off limits to the public. She banged on the door and in we went!

She introduced Garry and I to him as "the author's of THE letter". She then showed us what Ralph had done and I REALLY started to weep. Ralph had taken two pictures of Humphrey, a copy of his obit, and my letter, and had them professionally matted and framed. It now hangs in the break room.

One last "angelic" moment before this story ends. I had taken pictures of my Humphrey to show Barb and when she looked at them she was speechless. She then produced pictures of her cat Dinger who was born at the exact same time as our Humphrey; was abandoned exactly like my Humphrey; and they are absolutely identical. My chin actually dropped. If I didn't know better I would have sworn that she was showing me pictures of my very own cat!

In closing, Barb and I have been through a lot together AND separately since then. I love her dearly and she is truly one of the most wonderful people I have ever met. My life is so much better with her in it! I love you Barb...and your kitties too! = )

---Copyright 1997, 2000 Barb and Mel

The song "Angels Among Us" can be found on the player at the bottom of the page. Treat yourself to a listen.