Loving Shy Boy

My artistic plans for the evening changed as soon as I walked through my front door. One of my cats, Shy Boy, wasn’t his usual self this morning. Although I couldn’t find an injury, he seems to have a tender hip. He has rested most of the day, following his own innate wisdom for healing. 

Loving on Shy Boy
He seemed better when I got home. However, he has craved attention and closeness. This big male cat followed me into the bedroom and wanted to be held. I let him stretch out on my lap as I sat on the bed, checking texts and emails, and then gently transferred him to rest atop the quilt. 

But that’s not what he wanted. As I reclined in my chair in the living room, he crawled back onto my lap, relaxing with a deep sigh. 

Loving on Shy Boy
Shy Boy is one of my original rescue cats. Seeking refuge from the cold, his momma brought him and his two sisters to me when they were kittens. Marco came along a year later. Shy Boy is aptly named. He is the most timid of the cats, fearful of people he doesn’t know, the garbage truck that drives by every Thursday, and ceiling fans in motion. 

He isn’t typically a lap cat. Tonight, he is. And that’s okay. We are both going with the flow. My creative project can wait. Everything else can wait for a bit. Shy Boy needs cuddling and loving right now and this is the perfect time for such tenderness. I’ll hold him until he decides otherwise. 

“Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want.”   Joseph Wood


Loving on Shy Boy

Kindness Toward Animals

Today’s story falls into the making life more tender category. It could aptly be described as making life more tolerable, even, for a young mother dog and her eight puppies. 

Life a Little More Tender, Kindness Toward Animals
I’m spending the weekend in Oklahoma with family. My niece Ashley, her husband Jon, and my sister Debbie have such tender hearts, especially toward children and animals. They quite literally have a miniature zoo of rescue animals sharing space with them. 

Today I met Ashley’s newest additions, a sweet momma dog she calls Eve, and her eight pups. Eve had been passed from owner to owner, without finding a forever home. Her last home didn’t provide a safe and secure environment for the good natured girl, who was discovered to be expecting her first litter of puppies. 

Kindness Toward Animals, Life a Little More Tender

Kindness Toward Animals, Life a Little More Tender

Ashley couldn’t leave Eve to give birth in a cold, drafty barn, or worse, outside with no shelter at all. She agreed to foster Eve and provide a warm, loving home for the momma dog and the pups, once they were born. Shortly after joining their family, Eve delivered eight adorable puppies. 

I watched the happy brood today, and the care Ashley and Debbie have taken in setting up a nursery in their home office. One could do a quick count of animals and consider these two compassionate ladies a bit daft for taking on more animals and more responsibilities. But I only have to look into Eve’s big brown eyes, and smile over the clumsy antics of three week old healthy, chubby pups, to know that what Debbie and Ashley are doing is making life more tender, at a high level. 

Kindness Toward Animals, Life a Little More Tender
Kindness Toward Animals, Life a Little More Tender
Kindness Toward Animals, Life a Little More Tender
Anthony Douglas Williams said, “Be kind to every kind, not just to mankind.”  Showing kindness to animals is an act on the level of the heart and soul. He, or she, who is kind to animals has a greater capacity for showing kindness to others. 

For Eve, and Sally, Peewee, Jack, Lydia, Edward, Emily, Charlie and Todd, this kindness of being welcomed into a loving home has meant life. For without help, these gentle souls surely would not have thrived, or even survived. 

Well done, Ashley and Debbie, Jon, Ethan and Kaleb. Watching you making life a little more tender inspires me. Eve and her puppies will all be spayed and neutered, at the appropriate time, and available for adoption. If you feel inspired as well, and desire to share your life with one of these sweethearts, please send me a message and I will connect you to the proper person to make it so. 

Kindness Toward Animals, Life a Little More Tender