Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat –  Earla Jean Hollon

September 3, 2007

Welcome, welcome, another new writer graces our newsletter.  Earla Jean Hollon becomes writer # 430 for Storytime Tapestry.  Please email her and let her know what you thought of her story.

Miracle Cat

Earla Jean Hollon

Sometimes in life we experience miracles and don't even realize it at
the time.  It is only later, upon reflection, that we realize a miracle
occurred.  Miracles happen, this I know; two miracles happened to me
when I was six years old, growing up in the late 1950s the second child
of young, uneducated and very poor parents. 

My parents allowed my sister and I to have pets but if our pets were
hurt or became ill they were never taken to a veterinarian; they
recovered on their own, or died.  Sometimes if a pet was suffering and
did not appear to be getting better my father would shoot it.  This was
not done out of cruelness, but was done to end its suffering.  There was
never any talk of taking an ill pet to the veterinarian, and there was
no money to pay for one, even if the thought had passed their minds.
While visiting my great aunt, I fell in love with a tiny stray gray
kitten that had been hanging around her house and my parents gave me
permission to take the kitten home.  I immediately named her Smokey.
While Smokey allowed my parents and sister to pet her, she reserved her
love for me.  At night she would lie on my pillow and run her front paws
through my hair over and over, purring the entire time.  Smokey liked to
put one paw on each of my shoulders and rub her face along my cheek and
jaw over and over.  I could drape her across my shoulders like a cape
and carry her around.  Even though I was only six, she trusted me
completely.  One day when Smokey was about a year old, she appeared at
the front door meowing in pain and dragging her hind legs behind her.
The first miracle occurred when my parents took Smokey to be seen by not
one, but two veterinarians.  The first veterinarian told us that Smokey
had been born without a backbone and had never been able to walk.  Since
my parents knew this was incorrect, they took her to see another
veterinarian.  This vet told us that caner had eaten away Smokey's back
bone, that she would never walk again and the kindest thing would be to
put her to sleep.  Being put to sleep didn't sound bad to me as I often
willed myself to sleep to escape my parents furious and sometimes
violent arguments.  However, when my mother explained to me that going
to sleep meant Smokey would die, I started crying hysterically.  My
parents decided to take Smokey home and let nature take its course. 

That night I prayed over and over for God to let Smokey live.  The next
day I experienced my second miracle.  Smokey still could not walk but
she had stopped meowing with pain and she clearly wanted to eat.  It
took over a week before Smokey was able to take a few feeble steps; but
she went on to make a full recovery and lived for sixteen years.  Not
bad for a cat that wasn't suppose to ever walk again.

Earla Jean Hollon

ehollon@fulbright.com