Her Choice.

My cat arrived on a cold winter night in January. I got a call from the shelter asking if I could foster a mother and 4 kittens who had just been brought in. I do not know how she survived outside during that snowy, snowy winter. Yet, her kittens were in robust good health. She herself was skinny and missing patches of fur. Despite her privation she was a surprisingly picky eater and I would offer different types of food and pet her to coax her to eat. When the kittens were 8 weeks old it was time to ween them and mama went back to the shelter to be spayed and then adopted. I wrote her name on the cans of food that she preferred. Sometimes I went to the shelter in the morning before work to see her. A month later the kittens were old enough to be sent on their way in the world. We took a cute picture of them and it went up on the shelter's website - the day that they were available there was a line at the door in anticipation. Mama, however, had not been eating and was in another foster home. I got another call in March - could I take mama back for a few weeks? She was not doing well. She was down to 4 pounds when she returned to my house. As soon as she was back she began to eat; she was home. She is a delightful companion and all she wants in the world is to be in my lap. She is with me now was I write. I am amazed that this seemingly helpless creature would have the ability to find good homes for her kittens and choose the home that she wanted for herself. She reminds me every day of the possibilities in my own life.