Happy Valentines Day! I Hope You Like Cats

My daughter just had a birthday and what she wanted more than anything was a cat. Her and her boyfriend went to The Cat House: Cat Lounge & Botique for his birthday. Apparently he wants a cat so she gave him a cat basket for his birthday filled with everything he would need for his new cat. When she came home she mentioned that I might enjoy visiting there as a homeschool outing. Thus the adventure unfolded.

I have always loved cats. When I lived in the children’s home we weren’t allowed to have four legged pets. One of my houseparents in the children’s home had two cats named Alphie and Arnie that used to sleep on my bed. I became so attached to them that when I graduated she let me take them with me.

When our family moved into the house we live in now I gave my oldest son a cat which he promptly named Levi. We loved him for seventeen long years but on December 5, 2024 we took him for his end-of-life appointment. He had a tumor in his mouth and he was in a lot of pain and he wasn’t going to get well. Levi is the cat in the featured photo at the top of this post.

Shortly after that my daughter Alissa fostered two cats from Heartland Animal Shelter. The Lord has often used animals to heal heartache in my life and fostering was good for our family after losing Levi. Just before Christmas Heartland asked that we return the cats so they could be adopted out. Below is a photo of me with the two young adult male cats we fostered.

When we visited The Cathouse Lounge I discovered they had a cat named Kevin. I admit that I came home that day and told my husband that I almost adopted a cat named Kevin. But I wasn’t able to get a good look at him because he wouldn’t come out of his hideout.My husband said, “What do I need to do to convince you that you cannot handle more than one Kevin?” I told him that I haven’t been able to manage handling one Kevin.

Leading up to my daughter’s birthday she was spamming my phone with pictures of kittens and cats that need to be rescued. She relentlessly reminded me that ever since our cat Levi died that her cat Grace was lonely. I eventually headed back to the Cat House to get a better look at Kevin the cat. He crawled right up onto my lap and started purring. I filled out an application so that if we decided to adopt we would be ready. They sent me away telling me it would be 24-48 hours before I got an answer.

Later that afternoon I received an email telling me to go to Heartland Animal Shelter. Before heading over to Heartland I did one of my long walks as part of the Marathon training I’m in. I came across a chiropractor office in Arlington Heights that I used to go to. In the window they had a small light up tree that is exactly like the forgiving tree I used to hang my little felted hearts on. The doctor’s wife teaches my kids history.

When I got to Heartland Animal Shelter the woman behind the desk told me my application had been approved. She said it was her first day and she didn’t know why they sent me there. While I was there I decided to look at the cats they had. There were three kittens named Falcon, Raven and Sparrow who came running to me when I walked into the room. It took all of me not to go home with a kitten right then, but I really wanted to talk to my husband first. My husband earned the nickname “Mr. No” early on in our marriage because through out the history of our marriage he has said no to me and my desires practically 100% of the time.

Our cat Levi was an indoor and outdoor cat. There was a season during Levi’s early life where some neighbors of ours kept taking Levi into their home. We tried talking to them but they just kept taking him in and feeding him. He started to go to their house more than our house and often times he wouldn’t come home.

Right about that same time my husband was in a small group and another man in the group tried to encourage my husband to stop trying to dominate my choices and let me have the freedom every adult should have. I missed Levi when he was off at the neighbors and one day the kids and I went out and came home with not one but two kittens. We named them Blackie and Whitie.

I decided these kittens would only be indoor cats and I opted not to get them fixed. One morning my daughter asked why our kittens were so vocal. I explained that they were designed by God to call out to Tom cats and that if they got let out of the house they would end up getting pregnant. The next morning I woke up and saw that both kittens were on my front doorstep. I looked down and said, “How did you get out there?” I let them in and didn’t think a thing about it. A little over two months later we had a momma cat giving birth in our living room. She gave birth to two kittens. The kids named them Mira and Cole, as in they were a miracle.

I learned the wait to bring a cat into a no kill shelter is often very long. The waiting list at one place was a year. “A year! Do you know how many kittens we could end up with if we have these cats for a year?” A few weeks later the whole situation was compounded when my husband reached under our bed to get his work boots and instead found our other cat had given birth to a litter of kittens.

The Cat Cafe is a really neat place. These are some of the cats that caught my attention at the Cat cafe.

- Kevin
- Ginger
- Jerry
- Virginia
- Angela
- David
- Dansby & Phineas (Best Friends)

One day while I was there with a friend of mine I thought, “What the heck, I’m going to go ahead and adopt Kevin the cat. But when it was time to pay for him I was told that I couldn’t adopt him because Kevin was bonded with Ginger and they needed to be adopted together.

I just stood there and said, “I know this is a cat but hearing that Kevin is bonded to Ginger really bothers me because my husband’s name is Kevin.” When I looked at the papers on Ginger I learned that he is an adult male. My heart sunk.

I looked down and saw that they had little Valentine cards with Kevin on the front. I bought the cards and a sweatshirt and I went outside and sat down on a bench and cried.

While my friend and I were sitting there an old couple in their eighties walked up holding hands. They were asking about The Cat Cafe and with tears I pleaded with them to please adopt Kevin and Ginger. They said they were too old and just wanted to go see the cats.

The Cat Cafe is on Irving Park Road and the cross street is Lawrence. It just so happens that the strip club I worked at so many years ago was on Lawrence. It’s just one of those things that I think only I would notice. It reminded of a couple that both my husband and I know. This couple came into the Admiral when I worked there. They were there for the man’s birthday. I’ve been hoping and praying that somehow that man would have an eye opening experience and come to understand that it is the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance. I went back in and asked them if I could take a picture of their hands for my blog.

I know Kevin the cat isn’t my husband and the Cat Cafe isn’t a strip club. But on that day in that moment I felt heartbroken because I want to see the sex addicts get rescued. I’d like to see some men get healing and forgiveness. Grace is amazing and I want everyone to know the joy of being forgiven. I’m doing what I believe I’m supposed to be doing. I’m telling my story. But it’s not easy. It’s excruciating at best. I’m in a valley and I’m trusting that God is going to do something with all of this heartache.

I left the Cat Cafe and decided to go to Heartland for one of those cute kitties. The place was decorated for Valentines Day. I noticed that they had a Cats VS Dogs trivia night that fell on my Father-in-laws birthday.The kittens I had seen before were already gone. I regret not adopting Sparrow. There was a cute young female named Gracie and I decided that I would adopt her. Then our household would have our cat Grace and Gracie.

The woman there wanted me to first see a cat named Bunny that she really wanted to be adopted. She had fostered Bunny and told me Bunny was really affectionate and all she wanted to do was snuggle. Unfortunately after being fostered Bunny went to The Cat House and while she was there she got really sick. And if a cat house were a strip club then I would say that’s what happened to me. Going to the strip club made me sick.

I went back and looked at Gracie and told the volunteer that I wanted to take Gracie home. That’s when I was told that Gracie couldn’t be adopted by me because she was bonded to another cat named Sonny. I left empty handed that day. I wondered if maybe I wasn’t supposed to adopt a cat.

My daughter kept pressing. I knew she was right, cats do better when they have another cat to bond with. So I kept praying and visiting the cats.

The next time I went to Heartland I saw a cat named Ken. He was beautiful. The info said, “I’m just Ken and I am a 10! This long haired sweet boy is playful, sweet and a lover! He loves to snuggle and can be seen making biscuits quite often! Ken has not been neutered yet…” The sign on the door was very clear, “I’m unaltered. Please keep me caged! My name is KEN”

There were so many cats. They had a tomcat that was FIV positive, a cute cat named Joey and a black cat named Jolene.

Rescuing animals is only one of the themes the Lord has handed me during this season. I also feel a burden to tell people that God loves them and wants to forgive them. Like the Samaritan woman I want to preach the gospel by telling my story. I want to write to remember all the Lord has done. I believe God wants me to stand, speak and bless.

The process of getting me here however has left me feeling quite broken. I’ve been stripped of relationships, money and health. I feel like I’m one of God’s crippled butterflies. Nevertheless here I am.

For me to show up, however imperfectly I come to you, understand that to say yes to this I have to say no to so many things. I’m stretched pretty thin right now. This is me trying.

When I was young I made a lot of poor decisions. I got hurt really badly. I would like to see future generations learn without having to go through the fiery trials I’ve been through.

I wanted to adopt Kevin. I wanted Gracie. But the Lord gave me Milk. Happy Birthday Alissa!

Our cat Milk came to us all the way from Anasco, Puerto Rico. His medical records felt like a gift being that they give a small backstory into his journey before he came to us. When the volunteer handed me his papers my eyes scanned the documents taking in the information.

Patient: MILK

Breed: Domestic shorthair (Feline)

Sex: Male (intact)

Intact! I stopped short! Did I read that correctly?

I knew for sure that I did not want an intact cat. I was assured over and over that he had been altered prior to arrival at the shelter. “I’m going to need that in writing.” I told the woman. The more I compared the Puerto Rico paperwork to what the shelter gave me, the more questions I had. The birthdays were different, his hair looks long to me. But both my daughters were already attached. Alissa said he is her dream cat.

Finally one of the volunteers said, “If balls pop out then bring him back and we’ll take care of it.” I laughed out loud. “Okay, that sounds good. Will do. I’ll be back if his balls pop out.” I told her.

This is my life now. On the worst days I’m crying and on the best days I’m laughing and crying. I am ever so thankful the Lord has a very good sense of humor.

Soon MILK will be going to the vet and I’ve decided to go ahead and get a DNA test. It will be fun to see exactly what kind of cat he is.

Thank you to my small tribe of supporters. I couldn’t navigate this season without you! God bless you!