Sure feels like a lot more than a month's events have transpired since my last post. The Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival was terrific by the way, and it was great getting a break for a few days after closing my psychotherapy practice. Since then I've been hard at work. My life's possessions are pared down to about 15 boxes, and they're ready for storage. I've made reservations to leave for Washington DC out of Oakland International Airport Monday morning, August 20. Staging for the Peace Corps is Tuesday, August 21, starting 12:30 pm. I fly with my Peace Corps cohort to the Dominican Republic early Wednesday, August 22, 2012. My pack and rolling duffel are nearly packed. I've still got to brush up on rusty Spanish skills, and my computer skills need attention.
This week a big piece came together for me so that I am free to go...someone stepped forward to care for my cat, Iris, while I'm in the Peace Corps. It's a miracle!
After several months of asking everyone whether they would take care of my cat while I'm in the Peace Corps, I was feeling discouraged. My consciousness has certainly been raised about how many cats are in need of human assistance (and aren't getting it)! The level of denial about the unavailability for animal care (especially for older cats) is pretty high, too. It was getting so every time someone said, "Have you thought of posting on Craigslist?" or "Have you considered Petfinder?" I wanted to slap them. Didn't they realize they were the umpteenth person to make that suggestion? I was already feeling pretty badly about leaving my kitty. We've been together for ten years! On top of that, it seemed like friends and acquaintances thought someone else would help (OK, I admit it. I've been that way a lot in life myself ). I was confident that the right home for Iris would appear, yet as my departure date approached I was becoming concerned.
Finally I wrote a letter to Gary Bogue, a very talented columnist with a big heart who writes on animals for the Contra Costa Times, asking him for help. He posted a notice in his column the following week, saying that Iris needed a home because her human was leaving the country for the Peace Corps. I was so grateful! A woman named Linda called the very morning the newspaper column was published. We got together with our cats that very day. Iris stayed over at her house all day Thursday and Friday. Iris came home with me both evenings. And this weekend, she is staying with Linda and her 16 year- old Persian, Coby. Linda is teaching me things about cats I didn’t know. And the cats are also teaching me things I didn't know.
For one
thing, I was certain that Iris would want to be the only cat in her household. It
looks like I am about to be proven wrong. Linda wants a friend for her cat, Coby. In the beginning she allowed the cats to
come close to one another and they snarled. At least they met!
Since then, the cats have been in separate rooms and have only come
together several times. They are
aware of one another in the house, though, and do seem to be curious at times
about what the other cat might be up to.
After
combing Iris, Linda placed some of her fur where Coby sleeps, and vice versa. That way the cats are becoming familiar with one another’s scents. Watching these animals begin to relax
around each other is helping me learn to relax around other humans! I’ve enjoyed getting to know Linda and
it great that she lives just blocks away. We’ll stay in communication while I’m
in the Peace Corps.
One of the
things I wanted from Peace Corps Service in the Dominican Republic is to be a
more sharing human and un-do some of the individualistic training I’ve had as a
US citizen. The experience of
trusting Iris with another person, and trusting that she can get along with
another cat, is already getting me started in this direction.
