I first met her at the ballroom dance studio and dubbed her “Ginger
Rogers” ever since. Before I saw her, I heard her little meow and saw one of
the dancers suddenly prostrate himself on the floor to talk to her from across
the room. I walked around the corner to meet a sweet-looking face and
questioning eyes looking up at me. It was instant love. From that moment, my
heart expanded and expanded and expanded! And when I heard her story, I
thought, yes, Ginger! I’ll take you home.
It was one week before this that I had witnessed a house fire happen
in my own neighborhood and been moved by it, so it seemed the event almost prompted
my empathy more. Ginger’s owner had to move
into low-income housing where pets aren’t allowed. That
night I could hardly sleep - I was so excited with the possibility of adopting
her.
When I went to Mass the next morning, the first reading recalled the infant Moses being found and drawn out of the water and adopted:
When I went to Mass the next morning, the first reading recalled the infant Moses being found and drawn out of the water and adopted:
Now a certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, who conceived and bore a son. Seeing that who was a goodly child, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took a papyrus basket, daubed it with bitumen and pitch, and putting the child in it, placed it among the reeds on the river bank. His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him.Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the river to bathe, while her maids walked along the river bank. Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it. On opening it, she looked and lo, there was a baby boy, crying! She was moved with pity for him and said, “It is one of the Hebrew’s children.” Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter,” Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” “Yes, do so,” she answered. So the maiden went and called the child’s own mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will repay you.” The woman therefore took the child and nursed it. When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her son and called him Moses; for she said, “I drew him out of the water.”(Ex. 2:1-10).
I
heard this and felt it was a sign. This cat, who showed up so
unexpectedly, was like baby Moses in the basket, a gift from God waiting
for me to
reach out and embrace. I thought of how Moses grew up to bring
deliverance to his own people from out under the Egyptians' rule and
slavery,
and how this cat would deliver me, too, from the loneliness I was
experiencing.
God provided a miracle in a basket with Moses, but he also provided along with it
the resources
Pharaoh’s daughter needed to sustain him (his mother as nurse). Ginger
came home to me accompanied by free food, a pet carrier, litter box,
litter genie, bed,
cat toys and more.
My dance instructor who has five other cats of her own has been keeping
her for the past month. She is so relieved to have me take her and says all Ginger
wants is someone to bond with and love, and she needs a place where she can be
the “only cat princess” in the house. “She is so sweet and loving. I just think
she’s perfect for you.”
Episode Two: A Talking Cat
Ginger and I had an interesting first night together with both of us
taking “cat naps” on and off all night. She had so many new smells and sounds
to get used to, and I had to get used to sleeping with another breathing creature in bed. She
perked her ears at every outdoor noise coming in with the breeze through the
open window. Occasionally, she’d jump down from the bed and go exploring in the
dark; then return and meow, meow, meow at me to tell me all about it. I said, “Okay, Ginger. You’re fine, Ginger” and
scratched her head. Then she’d spring up onto the bed beside me, comforted to
have found me again, and after a few more mellow meows, stretch herself out and
start purring, the sound of it like a miniscule motorcycle engine. And we’d both sleep
for a while, until the next time she bounced back down and came back again –
each time like a joyful reunion.
Then today she gave me quite a scare. This little talker got so silent
for so long, hiding behind the couch, that suddenly I wondered where she was. I
spent half an hour calling her name and searching high and low in every possible hiding place in
this house. But cats are the masters at hide-and-seek. Turns out she had
found a way to crawl inside the sofa and was
quietly purring from somewhere deep within the cushions where I couldn’t reach her! I
finally coaxed her out with some food, so relieved that game was over.
