Lost & Found (November 22, 2008)
I'm not going to lie, the last couple of weeks have been rough. Applying on average to two to five new job postings every day and only getting one call from a temp agency had my nerves on end. They say that the most common thing that couples argue about is finances... and it's true. With my health insurance only good through the end of the month, I tried to cram in all of mine and Jackson's appointments. I also received the bills from the hospital. Jackson was a $45,000.00 baby... $1,600.00 of which we have to pay ourselves (in monthly installments, of course). Then, late Sunday night as I was feeding the baby and trying to talk him into going to bed peacefully in the nursery, the door to the garage creaked open unnoticed. Some time later, we discovered that Mr. Meowgi was gone. Having never been outside before, I immediately worried that my cat might not find his way home, or be mauled by one of the neighbor's mean dogs, or hit by the cars often speeding through the neighborhood in the wee hours. Jason and I grabbed our coats and flashlights and searched for over an hour for him... until the 30 degree weather had turned my runny nose numb. I cried on the porch for an additional stint before deciding to leave the garage door cracked, the light on and the door to the house slightly ajar while I curled up on the couch with a heavy blanket to wait. The following two nights were similar, except I put a bowl of cat food in the garage, which was nibbled on... but there was no way to know who'd done the nibbling. Each day I called animal control and local shelters. Sadly, my Meowgi did not come home.
On Tuesday, I reluctantly decided to keep my appointment to volunteer at the Give Kids The World Village. I'd always wanted to help with the horse and pony rides there, but when working, I was only able to volunteer at night and on weekends. The really fun stuff seems to take place during the week. Not two minutes after arriving, I shed my cloak of depression. So I lost my job and was worried about bills and my pet had run away... but these children, who haven't even had a chance to live their lives yet, face far worse circumstances every day. Ear to ear smiles appeared on the faces of kids who've spent nearly all their lives in hospitals... and all it took was sitting on the back of a horse and walking around a corral. As I held onto the side of the saddle walking along side of the horse, I'd ask each young rider if they were having fun and complimented their riding skills. Even the ones who couldn't talk, verbalized their happiness with a beaming grin. Two parents stopped me and thanked me for making their child's day. My personal troubles were the furthest thing from my mind. I felt so blessed to have given birth to a healthy baby and that I recovered well and was able to give some of my time to others. I decided that if the families I always meet at The Village can be positive and cherish the day at hand... then surely I should be able to as well.
The next day I visited the humane society (looking at the dozens of cute cats that were not mine nearly broke my heart) and then posted "Missing Cat" flyers all over various telephone polls in my neighborhood. I said a little prayer and focused on all of the positive things I have in life. Less then three hours later, we received a call... and another 30 minutes later, Meowgi was getting licked in the face by a very happy Hershey. Here's the story: Just one street over and only a few houses away, a man found Mr. Meowgi on his porch shivering at 7 a.m. Monday morning. (I was up and walking the neighborhood at 7:30 that same morning, but apparently was not seen.) He claimed to have called the city and finding that no one had reported the cat missing, gave him to his neighbor who said she had a niece who would want him. The niece then picked up my cat from her aunt's house and brought him to her grandmother's house located several developments away. When the aunt called, she confessed that they wanted to keep the cat, but noticed on the flyer that it said he had special food needs... oh, and of course that it was our cat. I decided that since they neglected to call animal control or the humane society, like common sense would dictate and that they'd actually intended to steal my cat with little search for his actual owner, I would not be giving them any reward money. I kept my feelings to myself when arriving at their house though, thanking them for finding my pet and wishing them a goodnight. Since he's been home, Jason has remarked that Mr. Meowgi has been acting like a Vietnam Vet with post traumatic stress syndrome... but at least he's home... and I'm sure he'll be back to normal and we'll be yelling at him to shut up so that we can hear the TV soon enough. (That was a joke.) Lesson learned from this experience: ALWAYS put that your lost animal has special needs (even if it's stretching the truth a bit) to insure that the finder doesn't go the route of "finders, keepers".
The return of the cat has made being stuck at home a lot less depressing and we've been dealing with the financial stress a little bit better. Between bouts of applying online for various jobs to get us through the holidays, we've had Jackson to make us smile. Then, about an hour or so ago, I received an email from a company in Maitland with a possible job offer. It's a slight cut in pay, but if the health benefits are good, it will work out to be a better job then the last. Things are finally starting to look up... but considering that it's only been a couple of weeks worth of stress, I see now that it hasn't been that bad. In fact, I'd love to squeeze in one more horse and pony ride shift with the Wish Kids before I have to return to a 9 to 5 job. I should know by now that any time it seems as though my world is falling apart, all it takes is a change of perspective to realize just how good life is. Sitting here now, I feel lucky to have had extra time to spend with my boys and I know that it's going to continue getting better for us. All we need is a little faith that things will work out in the end.
On Tuesday, I reluctantly decided to keep my appointment to volunteer at the Give Kids The World Village. I'd always wanted to help with the horse and pony rides there, but when working, I was only able to volunteer at night and on weekends. The really fun stuff seems to take place during the week. Not two minutes after arriving, I shed my cloak of depression. So I lost my job and was worried about bills and my pet had run away... but these children, who haven't even had a chance to live their lives yet, face far worse circumstances every day. Ear to ear smiles appeared on the faces of kids who've spent nearly all their lives in hospitals... and all it took was sitting on the back of a horse and walking around a corral. As I held onto the side of the saddle walking along side of the horse, I'd ask each young rider if they were having fun and complimented their riding skills. Even the ones who couldn't talk, verbalized their happiness with a beaming grin. Two parents stopped me and thanked me for making their child's day. My personal troubles were the furthest thing from my mind. I felt so blessed to have given birth to a healthy baby and that I recovered well and was able to give some of my time to others. I decided that if the families I always meet at The Village can be positive and cherish the day at hand... then surely I should be able to as well.
The next day I visited the humane society (looking at the dozens of cute cats that were not mine nearly broke my heart) and then posted "Missing Cat" flyers all over various telephone polls in my neighborhood. I said a little prayer and focused on all of the positive things I have in life. Less then three hours later, we received a call... and another 30 minutes later, Meowgi was getting licked in the face by a very happy Hershey. Here's the story: Just one street over and only a few houses away, a man found Mr. Meowgi on his porch shivering at 7 a.m. Monday morning. (I was up and walking the neighborhood at 7:30 that same morning, but apparently was not seen.) He claimed to have called the city and finding that no one had reported the cat missing, gave him to his neighbor who said she had a niece who would want him. The niece then picked up my cat from her aunt's house and brought him to her grandmother's house located several developments away. When the aunt called, she confessed that they wanted to keep the cat, but noticed on the flyer that it said he had special food needs... oh, and of course that it was our cat. I decided that since they neglected to call animal control or the humane society, like common sense would dictate and that they'd actually intended to steal my cat with little search for his actual owner, I would not be giving them any reward money. I kept my feelings to myself when arriving at their house though, thanking them for finding my pet and wishing them a goodnight. Since he's been home, Jason has remarked that Mr. Meowgi has been acting like a Vietnam Vet with post traumatic stress syndrome... but at least he's home... and I'm sure he'll be back to normal and we'll be yelling at him to shut up so that we can hear the TV soon enough. (That was a joke.) Lesson learned from this experience: ALWAYS put that your lost animal has special needs (even if it's stretching the truth a bit) to insure that the finder doesn't go the route of "finders, keepers".
The return of the cat has made being stuck at home a lot less depressing and we've been dealing with the financial stress a little bit better. Between bouts of applying online for various jobs to get us through the holidays, we've had Jackson to make us smile. Then, about an hour or so ago, I received an email from a company in Maitland with a possible job offer. It's a slight cut in pay, but if the health benefits are good, it will work out to be a better job then the last. Things are finally starting to look up... but considering that it's only been a couple of weeks worth of stress, I see now that it hasn't been that bad. In fact, I'd love to squeeze in one more horse and pony ride shift with the Wish Kids before I have to return to a 9 to 5 job. I should know by now that any time it seems as though my world is falling apart, all it takes is a change of perspective to realize just how good life is. Sitting here now, I feel lucky to have had extra time to spend with my boys and I know that it's going to continue getting better for us. All we need is a little faith that things will work out in the end.
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