When I left the bagel shop after breakfast this morning, I thought only of climbing back into bed for a blissful nap.
The past four days have been filled with non-stop birthday fun. Normally, I wouldn’t pack so much into such a short time span, but I wanted to avoid feeling sad about losing LG, my cat and dear companion of the past 18+ years, just a week ago.
I pulled out of the restaurant parking lot and headed down Hawthorne Boulevard toward home. Suddenly, cars were stopping and people were getting out. What’s happening?
A second later, I saw it. A tiny gray kitten running across the busy street, dodging cars. Half a dozen desperate people were chasing it.
The little thing froze in the street in front of my stopped car then darted under it. I shut off the engine, rolled down the windows and strategized with the volunteers surrounding the vehicle while waving traffic around. The kitten had climbed into a wheel well and disappeared into the lower portion of the car.
A Russian woman named Irina offered to go under and search. She did but said she couldn’t get very far and didn’t see the kitten. We talked about me slowly pulling off the road, but I felt it would spook the animal. Knowing the clearance space beneath my SUV, I got out, lowered myself to the street and maneuvered underneath.
I saw the fluffy ball of fur almost immediately. It was nestled in the framing near the spare tire and meowing pathetically. It looked to be only about five weeks old, and its blue-green eyes were filled with fear.
From my position, I was eventually able to guide Ellis, Irina’s husband, and others to corner and eventually capture the animal. This wasn’t without incident; the kitten moved quickly across the frame and attempted to escape our grasping hands several times.
Finally, Ellis had it firmly in his arms and passed it to Irina.
By the time I pulled off the road and grabbed a blanket from my car, Irina was covered in scratches and breaking out in hives on her neck.
I wrapped the kitten in the blanket and put it in an animal carrier I just happened to still have in my car from use two months ago.
Once the cat was secure, we had a joyful group hug and tended to our scratches and scrapes on the small grass area outside some business offices. I scrounged a Band Aid from my purse for Irina and passed around a bottle of antibiotic hand sanitizer.
Someone told Irina she may need shots, but she wasn’t the slightest bit alarmed and gestured that it was no big deal if necessary. Everyone was elated to have just pulled this off. We saved a life!
The kitten snuggled into the blue fleece blanket in the carrier, but shook terribly. After taking a quick photo on my cell phone, I lifted a corner of the blanket to cover the animal and help calm its nerves.
The volunteers weren’t content to have achieved the rescue. They talked about who would take care of the little one. Irina and Ellis said they’d like to add it to their pet family. We all exchanged information and, smiling, parted.
As I drove away down the street, I realized I was shaking, too, and my favorite Jason Mraz T-shirt was filthy. I mentally replayed getting out of my car and lying on the street – probably THE major artery in the area – without a thought as to my clothes or hair and traffic passing by only feet away. Irina had done the same. I also realized that, despite all the cars stopped askew, and mid-day traffic slowed for reasons some must not have known, no one honked or complained.
While I do believe that often the right people are there at the right time (with the right supplies), I also think the human heart, at its core, is so much bigger and more capable of unselfish action than we realize. Crises arise and people with no previous outward display of altruism or connection with the circumstance spring into action. That’s a miracle in itself.
What a beautiful thing.
The past four days have been filled with non-stop birthday fun. Normally, I wouldn’t pack so much into such a short time span, but I wanted to avoid feeling sad about losing LG, my cat and dear companion of the past 18+ years, just a week ago.
I pulled out of the restaurant parking lot and headed down Hawthorne Boulevard toward home. Suddenly, cars were stopping and people were getting out. What’s happening?
A second later, I saw it. A tiny gray kitten running across the busy street, dodging cars. Half a dozen desperate people were chasing it.
The little thing froze in the street in front of my stopped car then darted under it. I shut off the engine, rolled down the windows and strategized with the volunteers surrounding the vehicle while waving traffic around. The kitten had climbed into a wheel well and disappeared into the lower portion of the car.
A Russian woman named Irina offered to go under and search. She did but said she couldn’t get very far and didn’t see the kitten. We talked about me slowly pulling off the road, but I felt it would spook the animal. Knowing the clearance space beneath my SUV, I got out, lowered myself to the street and maneuvered underneath.
I saw the fluffy ball of fur almost immediately. It was nestled in the framing near the spare tire and meowing pathetically. It looked to be only about five weeks old, and its blue-green eyes were filled with fear.
From my position, I was eventually able to guide Ellis, Irina’s husband, and others to corner and eventually capture the animal. This wasn’t without incident; the kitten moved quickly across the frame and attempted to escape our grasping hands several times.
Finally, Ellis had it firmly in his arms and passed it to Irina.
By the time I pulled off the road and grabbed a blanket from my car, Irina was covered in scratches and breaking out in hives on her neck.
I wrapped the kitten in the blanket and put it in an animal carrier I just happened to still have in my car from use two months ago.
Once the cat was secure, we had a joyful group hug and tended to our scratches and scrapes on the small grass area outside some business offices. I scrounged a Band Aid from my purse for Irina and passed around a bottle of antibiotic hand sanitizer.
Someone told Irina she may need shots, but she wasn’t the slightest bit alarmed and gestured that it was no big deal if necessary. Everyone was elated to have just pulled this off. We saved a life!
The kitten snuggled into the blue fleece blanket in the carrier, but shook terribly. After taking a quick photo on my cell phone, I lifted a corner of the blanket to cover the animal and help calm its nerves.
The volunteers weren’t content to have achieved the rescue. They talked about who would take care of the little one. Irina and Ellis said they’d like to add it to their pet family. We all exchanged information and, smiling, parted.
As I drove away down the street, I realized I was shaking, too, and my favorite Jason Mraz T-shirt was filthy. I mentally replayed getting out of my car and lying on the street – probably THE major artery in the area – without a thought as to my clothes or hair and traffic passing by only feet away. Irina had done the same. I also realized that, despite all the cars stopped askew, and mid-day traffic slowed for reasons some must not have known, no one honked or complained.
While I do believe that often the right people are there at the right time (with the right supplies), I also think the human heart, at its core, is so much bigger and more capable of unselfish action than we realize. Crises arise and people with no previous outward display of altruism or connection with the circumstance spring into action. That’s a miracle in itself.
What a beautiful thing.
