Beth found a starving four-month-old kitten, or rather, he found her when he appeared in her backyard begging for food. It was obvious that he had never been in a house. He didn’t trust the human constructions, so Beth began educating him to the advantages of a home.
She placed a food dish on the back-porch step. When he was hungry, he warily approached the food, all the while cautiously peering into her house like it held monsters. Once his hunger overcame his fears, he ate the food.
The next step was moving his food dish inside the door. Eventually, he bravely ventured inside to fill his hollow tummy. Each day, Beth slid his dish further into her home. Slowly the kitten’s imagined dangers dissipated until one day he calmly walked into her home.
Three days later, as he was munching free food, she closed the door. Mission accomplished! It took three weeks to tame the little wild beast.
Once accustomed to ‘their’ home he never left except to go outside to go to the bathroom and snoopervize the neighborhood.
“I had a cat to love and his stomach was consistently full,” said Beth. “It was a win/win for us both. He loved me and slept on my bed every night until his passing.”
Beth is known for her sense of humor. While telling a golf-pro neighbor that she had a new kitty, he said, “I don’t like cats.”
Beth responded, “Then I’ll name my cat, Harvey, after you. It was so funny because he hated having to share his name with a cat and regularly complained about it to anyone who’d listen.
For a running joke, at bedtime, Beth hollered out her door, “Harvey! Get in here! Now! Or you are going to spend the night outside?” Their other neighbors got a hoot out of her nightly spoof teasing the golf-pro. When he complained to his wife about the nightly ‘cat calls’ she responded, “You should be happy to have that cat named after you. He’s a great cat.”
Four months ago, Harvey passed away at 13 years of age, sucking the wind out of Beth’s world. She had not petted a cat since.
On Mother’s Day, her family took her on a country drive to a farm for fresh eggs.
Of course, Beth, raised on ten acres was excited to see the farm animals. When they arrived, two friendly dogs and two cats ran up to them. One cat took a closer look and bolted under a bush, the other was a Harvey tabby-look-a-like.
The cat came up to Beth, nuzzled her hand and lovingly bumped his head on her leg.
“He looked so much like Harvey, that touching him was a heart healing moment,” said Beth. “It was so moving. It felt like I was looking at my cat and had to stop myself from crying. I know it was a Mother’s Day gift from Harvey. The farm cat brought back good memories because it felt like I was being loved by my cat.
At night, I still hear familiar noises and know it is Harvey’s gentle spirit prowling our home. I can physically feel him as he hops on my bed, wriggles into his familiar paws-ition and bumps my leg. I look in his direction and see that the blanket has bunched up just like when Harvey nestled in. Going to the farm and reconnecting with my love for Harvey was the best Mother’s Day gift I ever received.”
