The Cat That God Sent

For the last spread in this Field Notes memo book, I jotted down a quote from a little e-book I just began reading: "The Cat That God Sent" by Jim Kraus. When it was offered as a daily free book for the Kindle app, I downloaded it purely on the title. Then never got around to reading it . . . until now. Turns out to be quite entertaining!

The title captured my attention because God literally _did_ send me a cat! In 1978,I really wanted to adopt a cat but I am allergic to them. So I actually prayed for a cat that would not cause a reaction. Then forgot about it as I found out we were expecting our gorgeous son Matthew.

When Matt was 6 months old, a February snowfall soon developed into a blizzard. Through the howling winds, I kept hearing a strange noise on our front porch. Finally I walked over and opened the door, holding it against the strong winds and blowing snow. And in strutted a big cream-colored cat, right over to baby Matt laying on a blanket. He proceeded to wipe snow all over Matt's face --- Matt has been a cat-lover ever since!

We ran an ad to find the owner and found him; the cat had crossed a busy road and couldn't get back, being afraid of the traffic. The owner had two brother cats but they didn't get along so he said we could keep him. They were from an aunt who raised this particular breed. I later learned that he was a Maine Coon. He looked full-grown when he first walked through our door, but he was only six months old . . . and he grew and grew, with his coat getting long and forming what looked like a lion's mane around his neck, pantaloons on his hind legs and a fat raccoon-like tail.

And I was _not_ allergic to him! That's when I remembered asking God for a cat. Kippy was our first of this special breed, followed eventually by black and white Dali, then our classic blue tabby Bearcat. Our grown kids also adopted Maine Coons and Maine Coon mixes through the years. Amazing creatures!