Love Thursday: Reiki Tails

It would be so easy to gush about how much I love this not-so-little girl, my daughter, but what this Love Thursday is all about is the kitty she holds, its room mates, and our big love for them. If you have been visiting this blog for awhile, you will remember the weekly Reiki Tails posts of last summer. But if you are new around here (and even if you’re not), a little background information might help.

On a seemingly random Tuesday in November 2005, our beloved cat 18 year old cat, Chelsea, decided she was ready to make her transition. Unfortunately, we weren’t so ready for her readiness ... a fact that didn’t slow down her adieu one wink. She literally passed before our eyes, at home, leaving us bewildered, heart-broken and numb.

A year later, we were still living in a catless home which, as most of you know, really isn’t living or much of a home at all. My daughter and I decided it might be nice to start volunteering at our local League for Animal Welfare. Instead of having just one cat, we would have 80 of them to love ... and not one single litter box to empty. Where do we sign?

As a Reiki practitioner, it felt good to be able to offer this healing to these animals, so many of which were rescued from situations of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Treatments were as easy as simply sitting in a chair and letting any cat interested in hands-on Reiki to jump up into my lap ... which never sat empty for long. My daughter gave them healing in her own special way, with lots of petting and play. Little did we know what a gift it would be to us to give the gift of our love to these homeless cats.

Ultimately, we decided to become the forever home for two of the shelter residents ... a strapping orange tabby rescued from a New Orleans shelter after Hurricane Katrina, along with his snowy white girlfriend taken in after her elderly owner passed away. We are every bit as lucky to have them as they are to have us. But we still love to visit the shelter as often as we can and have to restrain ourselves from adopting more. It is impossible not to get attached. Each time one of our favorites (which seems like every cat) is adopted (which seems like every week), we comfort each other with hugs of support and reminders that forever homes are what we are supposed to want for them. We are there to help them learn to trust again. Always bittersweet.

It is such a blessing to be able to share this experience with my daughter ... and to teach her the value of serving as a volunteer. I know that she will take this experience and our greyhound rescue activism into her adulthood and, hopefully, she will continue to actively give in whatever capacity she that feels called. It is so important to share our love, our time, and our support wherever and whenever we can.

And, finally, I love sharing Reiki Tails here with all of you. I look forward to returning to these posts on a regular basis. Here's a slideshow from our visit this week, so you can see old friends like sweet Gretel, who is still waiting for her forever home.