Saturday, March 14, 2015

Cute Kitty in the Midst of A Horrid Week


Those of you who follow me on Facebook may already know that it has been a tough week here. Last Sunday night at 11:15 I got a call from my beloved step-daughter Jenn to tell me that her mom Jo had suffered a massive heart attack and gone into cardiac arrest at the local hospital. After seven minutes of CPR, they managed to stabilize her and send her to the Bassett Hospital in nearby Cooperstown, which is set up for cardiac patients. Jo has been in the ICU there ever since. Jenn flew out from San Jose late on Tuesday and we have been spending most of our days there since she got here. (Hence the radio silence here.)

Jo is also a friend of mine and a frequent guest at Blue Moon Circle events, as well as being my best friend Ellen's other best friend. (Basically, we are a strange modern family.) And of course, this has been especially rough for Jenn. Jo is slowly improving every day and we are hoping for the best, although it will be a long road to recovery.

But in the meanwhile...I decided I needed to do something to cheer Jenn up.

Again, if you follow me on Facebook (and clearly if you don't, you are missing out on all the News), you will know that as I was returning from my visit to San Jose in mid-February, my friend Ellen, who works as a dog groomer at our vets' office, called to tell me about a little cat someone brought in who reminded her of my recently lost Samhain.

This little cat, who they think is about six months old and only weighs 4 1/2 lbs, was found in a snowbank, almost dead. She's apparently pretty tough though, since she made a full recovery. They were looking for someone to adopt her. I fought it...I swear I did! But it kept feeling like Samhain had her paw in this, and eventually I caved and said I'd take her. But I had to wait for her to be spayed, and for a second feline leukemia test to come back negative.

When I called on Friday to see what they thought about me bringing her home temporarily, I was told that the second test had been done, she'd been given her booster shots, and was ready to go! So I brought her back home (I'd had to skip the hospital for the day to catch up with things at work, so Jenn was coming in later with a friend) and surprised Jenn with a buddy to hang out with in the upstairs bedroom at night. There may have been happy squealing :-)

Here's the newest member of the family: Luna (so called because it looks to me like she has a partial lunar eclipse on her face, and when I was trying to decide whether or not to take her, I pulled The Moon tarot card)

What do you think?




For the moment I am trying to keep her upstairs with the intention of introducing her to the other cats slowly. But she is affectionate and full of beans and has already made a break for it once, so something tells me that isn't going to work. I'll keep you posted.

In the meanwhile, I'd intended to do an overdue giveaway to celebrate the four book deal from Berkley, but it is going to have to be a little more overdue, since I'm pretty much on hospital duty until Jenn goes home on Thursday. (And then I'm going to be madly playing catch-up.) But don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it, and soon enough, there will be another fun batch of goodies up for grabs.

Did I mention I also had to replace my furnace unexpectedly? Oh, the joy.

Here is a fun picture from the wonderful Christmas Day we all had together in December.

Jo, Ellen in the back, Jenn, and me on a much happier day
So, that's life, really. Some good stuff, some bad stuff, and always, cats. Thanks to all those who sent their good wishes on Facebook--they were all much appreciated.

8 comments:

  1. Luna is adorable. The others won't be able to resist her! Hugs and good thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I brought her downstairs briefly a few minutes ago and she seemed overwhelmed by all the space. But Angus and she touched noses briefly before he ran away. Since Samhain was Angus's pal. I'm hoping he'll eventually befriend Luna.

      Delete
  2. She's a beautiful girl and I wouldn't doubt Samhain had a paw in it; Magic probably rubbed off a little on her.

    Hope Jo gets well as soon as she can and that Jenn hangs in there.

    Kit

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kit. Today was a not-so-great day, and it is tough to see Jo struggling to talk. Jenn and I are both exhausted, so we're resting tonight and hoping for a better day tomorrow.

      Delete
  3. Wow, that IS a rough week! Glad that it sounds like Jo will pull through! HUGS!!! for her and Jenn and you too.

    YAY for new kitty! Luna is gorgeous, and yes, I agree Samhain must have had something to do with it. <3

    ReplyDelete
  4. Blessings to you and all your family members (feline & human), and may only Good Things come with the New Moon...fresh beginnings.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm late to read this - I've been otherwise busy away from the interwebs this past week.

    I'm so sorry to hear of Jo's health issues and the scare this has given you all. I hope the collective powers that be bring healing and peace to you all.

    What a beautiful new fur baby. I hope Luna (great name) is accepted and welcomed by all the other felines. I agree that Samhain was helping guide the fates that brought her to you.

    Yeah for today and the first day of spring. I hope this ushers in a cycle of renewal and all that is joyous for you and your circle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Cathy. So far my attempts at introduction amongst the cats haven't gone all that well, but it is early days yet.

      Happy spring!

      Delete

ShareThis