Eight More Lives

Tiger the cat is our feline friend that we adopted from Grandma Mary last summer. One of Tiger's favorite spots to take a nap is on top of the garage door when it's left open. With the van parked inside, she'll climb up to the van's roof and then hop to the garage door and slumber in the warmer air. On Tuesday afternoon, she was woken to a horrible, real life nightmare.

I was gone for just a couple minutes to drop the twins off at activity days and as I arrived home a neighbor stopped me and explained there had been an accident with Tiger. When I left and shut the garage door I didn't know that tiger was up there. She quickly ran out of horizontal surface, and with the van gone, she didn't have a quick escape route. I was already headed down the road when she got pinched between the door and the wall.

Phrases like "blood on the driveway", "broken back" and "animal control" were quickly relayed to Jeff at work. As I talked with Jeff on the phone, my neighbor would look at Tiger (out of my view) and look back at me and just shake her head. Jeff and I agreed that the best thing was probably to put the poor kitty to sleep.

I felt horrible. Not only because I was the one who shut the door but I would soon have to tell the kids their beloved pet would be put to sleep. Animal Control soon arrived and I asked the officer to "take care of it" for us. Tears were shed the rest of that evening and everyone was depressed into the next morning with the absent of the scratching at the door and no Tiger sneaking into the house when Jeff left for work.

Well, I guess when it comes to a wounded animal, "just take care of it" must mean different things to different people. At midmorning, I got a call from a girl at the animal shelter saying that our cat was alert, and responsive and being very loving towards her. WHAT!?!? I thought..... but..... how......? Grandpa Ron was soon on his way over there to pick up Tiger.

I wish I had pictures of the kids' faces when I told them the news after they got home from school. Poor Sophie didn't understand the whole death thing, even after we did our best to explain it in four-year-old terms. Now to explain that the cat is not dead.....I'm afraid this is all confusing her even more.

Tiger has been at Grandma and Grandpa's since then and is healing and resting comfortably. We have taken the kids over a couple times to see her and can't wait to bring her home and find her a new place for naps. Was it a miracle or just miscommunication? Either way, we are thankful.

(photography by Megan and Sarah)