Paula writes:
“An officemate approached me last year asking if I can help her find a kitten to adopt. Her asthmatic housemate recently moved out so she was free to bring in a furry companion. She preferred a puspin, she said, because buying pets went against her grain. I told her I just had some of my rescues rehomed during the previous months, and offered to look for kittens up for adoption in Facebook. Over the course of several weeks, I showed her several posts from Cat Care Philippines so she can choose. We wanted to meet up with some of the rescuers, but it got quite busy in the office that we put off the search in the meantime.
“One February weekend, I had planned several personal errands. By some weird twist of fate though, most of those plans didn’t push through. I had to squeeze everything on that Sunday afternoon, that’s why my sister and I had to catch the last mass in our neighborhood parish, which was not our usual church nor schedule. When the mass ended, we impulsively took a different route going home. That was when I heard her cries. She was alone, scuttling around the sidewalk near some trash, eyes still closed.
“I took her home, cleaned her up and brought out my old feeding bottle. On a whim, I snapped some pictures and sent them to my officemate. I can still remember her response: “Black and gold, my favorite colors.” I knew right then that I found this tortie girl’s forever home. I named her Hana, from Tadhana, because I was amazed at how the whole universe seemed to conspire to bring this furbaby and her forever meowmy together. Hana was later renamed as Chabelita, and she is definitely a spoiled baby. I am honored to have been instrumental in this adoption story. Indeed, if it’s meant to be, love will find a way.”
Words and images by Paula Sauza.
About the contributor: Paula has loved cats ever since she was a child, but has just started rescuing and rehoming them recently. She currently lives with 3 cat masters, all of them rescued and spoiled rotten. (Her cats Olaf and Chibi’s adoption stories were featured here and here.) For 2016, Paula hopes to bring the stray cats in her neighborhood for spay/neuter.