Miraculous days start “normally”.  I had been care taking of my mother for a year, 500 miles away and had arrived home for Christmas. My husband and I drove 25 miles to Eugene to purr-chase kitty litter at one of 12 pet stores.
     
At one, the kitty litter aisle is 40 feet long!  We did not want pine litter - it is hard on my and the cats’ breathing- or clumping brands because of our Persians’ long fur.  If it attached to their fur, then when they groom, “Would it 'clump' in their digestive tract?"
 
We were reading the back of bags of clay and crystal litters.  When customers arrived at the litter section, like the “kitty-rozzi” I interviewed them.  “Does your brand hold odor?  How often do you change it?” In the hour of ‘scientific research’ customers answered the survey, but none shared their cats’ names.
 
Then this beautiful, kind, blue-eyed woman with long white hair, reminiscent of a white Persian cat arrived. In the next brief seconds our lives merged in a city of 161,000 people into a purr-found miracle. The divine timing created a miracle.
 
“We have two short haired cats,” she responded. I quipped, “Oh, you look like you’d have Persians.”  She caught her breath and quietly said, “We did.  We loved them. But Miracle died a year ago.”
 
I gasped and began crying. I knew the answer before asking,  “Was she a rescue?  Was she orange and black? Was it Ms. Myrakle?"
 
“Yes”, said Linda.  
 
Stunned! What were the unbelievable odds!?
 
"We fostered and named Ms. Myrakle for the humane society,” I said.  “It took three days to clip off the fur mats preventing proper leg movement. As the last mat was removed, with appreciation in her eyes, she turned and looked into my eyes silently voicing, ‘Thank you!’. She never fought with our cats and when she was returned to the humane society for rehoming, it was a tearful goodbye. This morning I was reminiscing about her, looking at the newspaper article I’d written about her plight.”
 
Linda, realizing the enormity of our encounter, crying, said, “Four years ago, I told my husband, Gene, that I wanted a cat for my birthday. We saw Ms. Myrakle on the shelter’s website.  We liked how her name was spelled - so we went and adopted her. She was elderly, had only a few teeth, so Gene got down on the floor and hand fed her soft foods.  We loved her.  She was the sweetest cat.

 

We live close to this store and never come on a busy weekends.  I have no idea why I did today.  While driving here, I was feeling grief because this week, it’s been a year since Myrakle's passing.  
 
I miss her and our other cat. It is the oddest thing, they died a year apart, the same week. Then what she said next stunned me again! “Our other cat’s name was Angel,” she added.
 
I grabbed her litter filled buggy for balance! As the author of the online ‘Angels and Miracles’ newsletter for 25 years, teaching others to “Expect Miracles” (name of my first book) this divine encounter was an unexpected reaffirming joy.
 
For a day that started off “normally” it had a miraculous ending!  Linda and I felt that Ms. Myrakle’s love brought us together that Christmas to thank us for the gift of rescuing and loving her.  She’d most likely come from a toss-away-breeder after no longer being of use and was thanking us for her last years of love, comfort and grace.
 
When Linda arrived home she told Gene, "The most amazing thing happen at the pet store."  He responded, "Oh! NO!” And began looking around for a newly adopted pet!

Fostering saved her life and gave her the chance to be loved as she deserved...and she gave it back to all she met.  

 

Caring for pets can change your life, open your heart, and make you laugh.

 

The name of my second book? ‘A Christmas Filled with Miracles’, of course.  Linda and I remain friends, united by a cat in heaven. May you live a life filled with miracles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu6fVdAFGSI

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