Dedication

To the little girl who was going door-to-door trying to find a home for this kitten

next to the 280 entrance in downtown San Jose...

Honey, your kitten found a home.

After you left him on the sidewalk

he spent the night outside, his last unsheltered night on earth.

I'd like to think he found a warm place, but I cannot say for sure where he slept

or what if anything he ate when he woke.

My story with him begins at 10:00 AM Sunday morning

watching him stand attentively next to two lanes of fast-moving cars

with little fear, wedged between the freeway entrance

and drivers paying no attention:

no one stopped, no one even slowed down or changed lanes.

There was not a second's hesitation in my heart: he was going to die.

I pulled up a few dozen feet away so as not to scare him because I thought surely he would bolt in the opposite direction

but when I crouched down and rubbed my fingers together he ran straight into my arms

and I held on to him for dear life

until he was shut safely in my car.

Little girl, my heart was racing. We have a full house: a baby, two cats and two adults

but my next sensible and reasonable thought was erased by a deep and perfect purr

and one paw on my cheek.

Whatever you did to help him be so sweet, thank you. 

This kitten is the one-in-a-million kind of tender and strong. He's smart and bold and friendly.

I can tell by how fearless he is with people that you took good care of his heart.

He slept in my lap while I drove to Freedom, California for a meeting: once we started moving he just settled in.

Ditto for the ride home. Did he tuck his paw over your wrist when he slept in your arms? 

Sweet one, I don't know anything more than that he's a boy and he's ours. I need to get him tested for things that would either have him be our backyard cat or join Janey and Leela indoors.

Heaven knows you will likely never read this blog or know that there was an answer to your heart's wish that someone take care of what your parents couldn't

but if there was some sort of flare I could send up

or a message written in smoke above the valley here I would write it,

I would light it.

It would say

"He's Home. His name is Lil' Joe and we love him already. Thank you for bringing him into our lives".

xoxo,

Sunny