daily dose of dogs (aka cats with your coffee)

Always So Appreciated

I’m not online much anymore.  I don’t add to this blog very often.  Most of my posts now are send-offs to the Wishers and to my own personal pets.  But sometimes Winnie’s Wish still receives a gift, and I always want to acknowledge that.  Gifts to Winnie’s Wish are SO APPRECIATED.

 

June – THANK YOU.

 

 

mr's Hershey

mr's Emily

 

mr and husband – THANK YOU.

 

P.S. A few of you have asked. Our house re-construction was FINALLY completed last week.  Six long months.  So nice to have that behind us.

 

Fannie

Another Wisher has moved on.  As I looked back at Fannie’s rescue story, it brought back so many memories of the years and years of rescues.  Her story made me smile.  I’ll include a good bit of that story at the end of this post.  Not necessary to read that far, but if you’re still reading here because you love cats/animals, maybe it will bring a smile to you as well.

Fannie had been with me here at Winnie’s Wish for almost 8 years.  She was a feral adult with two kittens when I took her in.  Sometimes a feral adult cat, with enough time and patience, can come around to a nearly normal existence with humans.  Most of the time, they will be OK with only one human.  And sometimes, they don’t ever come around.  I’ve had only a handful over the years who did not tame.  For the last several years, there have been only three feral-start cats at Winnie’s Wish whom I could not touch.  One of those was Fannie.  Sadly, for just the last few months I’d been able to get one stroke down her back as she moved towards her food dish each morning.  Our routine was always the same.  She lived in one of the runs converted into a kitty condo.  Each day when I walked through the front door, Fannie would race to the front of her run.  The run gate is chain link.  She would climb up the chain link and balance on the narrow wood ledge.  I always pet each of the cats who are out of their runs overnight and then I would go to Fannie’s run and stick my finger through and she would touch my finger with her nose.   Four days before her death, she didn’t engage in her normal routine.  I thought it odd, but everything else about her seemed normal.  The next day, she failed her morning routine again, and I noticed she hadn’t eaten much overnight.  Two more days and she was gone.

Fannie had never been sick a single day of the 8 years she was with me.  It was a blessing that she was such a healthy girl because medicating her would have been a nightmare (for her and for me) or possibly not doable at all.  She was extremely thin when I took her in, but she didn’t come with an upper respiratory condition and she never developed a single health problem in all these years.  We don’t know how old she was because Older Daughter could never take a look at those teeth.  She was a mom cat when I trapped her.  She could have been two years old or ten years old.  The blessing for her (and for me) was that she simply passed away.  No long illness.  No long period of suffering. 

When she died, I thought about what her life might have been like as a feral cat these last 8 years.  I thought about her dying out there on her own.   She was content here.  And cared for.  And she died safely in her own home.  For a feral cat that’s about as good as it gets.

(Below is her rescue story)

 

Fannie – Farewell.

 

Before I leave this post, three gifts have come in over the time since I last posted.

Karen – THANK YOU

Heather – THANK YOU 

June – THANK YOU

 

Now here is Fannie’s rescue story if you’re interested.

From the post Life Goes On

Last week on Monday evening, my husband stopped by his brother’s house to drop something off.  As he pulled into the driveway, he noticed a cat way in the back of the yard.  He and his brother stood outside talking for a bit, and Husband asked BIL about the cat.  Can you touch it?  BIL said it runs from him.  Then Husband saw a second cat.  This one looked really small.  BIL said these two had been hanging out in his yard for a couple of weeks.    The two cats were quite a distance away, but Husband pulled out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures.  Then he started walking towards the closer one.  It darted away with the other one right behind.  Over a fence and they were gone. 

My husband did his duty.  He came home and reported.  He showed me the pictures on his cell phone.  We were moving around in the kitchen getting some supper ready.  I looked at the pictures and listened about the cats.  I thought about how my BIL now lives in a small town where there are lots and lots of cats living feral.  There isn’t just a feral COLONY in this little town.  There are feral cats ALL OVER the town.  There isn’t even the possibility of trying to TNR and do management.  It is literally the entire town.  It is overrun with feral cats and has been for years. 

I thanked Husband for asking questions and taking pictures.  I told him how I couldn’t, of course, try to trap those two cats for lots of reasons – the main one being that setting a trap with food in it would draw who knows how many cats.  Also – what difference did it make if I could get THOSE two.  What about the dozens and dozens and dozens more in that town?  It didn’t make sense to try to get two cats.  And also, I did not have one single spot for a new Wisher  Husband agreed completely and we sat down to eat.  It was a quiet meal.  Husband said a couple of things.  I nodded or mumbled in response.  I could NOT stop thinking about the pictures.  Those two cats were on property I could legally be on.   They were females (calicos).   They were living feral with never enough to eat and constant breeding.  Then the other side of my brain said – There are millions of cats all over this country in this very predicament.  You don’t have a single spot for them.  You CANNOT get them. 

 We cleaned up our supper dishes and shuffled off to our evening chores.  He did some weed eating and I watered my flowers on the deck.  As I watered, I had more than a couple of conversations with myself.  Finally, reason won over and I stopped ruminating.  Of course I couldn’t trap those two cats.  I simply did not have room.  My decision was made.

As Husband and I both headed into the house at the same time, I opened my mouth to tell him that I for sure wouldn’t try for the cats.  This is what came out instead – Can you take the trap on your way to work in the morning and set it back by your brother’s fence?   First he just stared at me, then he started to say something, then he opened the door and motioned for me to step on in.   Sure – he said.  I can do that.   

 I was excited and horrified for the rest of the evening and every time I woke up that night.  What if I NEVER got Sunspot and Blue and Binks adopted?  The only way for me to have these additional two cats would be if I could get some Wishers adopted.  Also – what if I didn’t get either one of these cats and ended up with some of the others in that town.  I already KNEW about these two and felt like I had to make sure they were taken care of.  If I trapped others first, I’d feel like I had to keep trying until I got THESE two.  I was having such mixed emotions.   There was a bit of joy at the prospect of getting these two sweeties out of that town.  They would be feral and more-than-likely never adoptable.  But my problem my whole life has been that once an animal “crosses my path,” I simply cannot turn away.  These two kitties were already “real” for me.  I had their story and their pictures.  How could I not try?

From the post Trapping Day Number One

A week ago on Tuesday morning, as I was posting about my four new feral foster kittens, Husband was on his way to work.  He would stop at his brother’s place and set the trap.  This small town is halfway between here and the town my husband and daughters work in.  So the plan was for each of my daughters to stop and check the trap as each of them headed to work that day.  Younger Daughter would only be about half an hour behind Husband.  It was extremely unlikely that there would be anything in the trap in such a short span of time.  Older would go through a couple of hours later.  If there’d been a “catch” I would head that way to collect up my kitty.  If there wasn’t a “catch” at that time then I would wait about another hour and drive there myself to check.  I wouldn’t be leaving the trap set in the afternoon because of the heat.  Wouldn’t want an animal in a trap for even half an hour during the hottest part of the day.   

Husband was first and he texted that the trap was set in a shady spot in the backyard.  Younger texted next that there was nothing in the trap.  I knew about what time Older would be going through that town.  I was working and waiting          . . .  waiting for her text.  Instead, my cell phone rang.  I don’t have enough signal out here to receive a call.  Most of the time, my phone doesn’t even ring.  But if it does and I try to pick up, the call drops immediately.    So I ran to the house and called her from the land line.  And she said – Well, you better head this way.  You’ve definitely got somebody in your trap.  In fact, you’ve got TWO somebodies.

I dropped everything and jumped in my vehicle.  Fifteen minutes later I was pulling into the driveway.  My heart was racing.  Would it be the two I had pictures of?  I had enlarged and cropped those pictures over and over and it appeared that one was an adult dilute calico, and the smaller one was a standard calico.  I got to the backyard and spotted the trap.  Nope.  It sure wasn’t the TWO from the picture.  But I was pretty sure it was ONE of them.  And the bonus kitty was without a doubt a sibling.  I had a calico kitten and a tabby kitten in my trap. 

 My heart swelled with joy.  Two youngsters.  Too old to tame enough to be adoptable (not good), but still young enough that they had not yet reproduced.  This was wonderful – two kitties who would NEVER be part of the nightmare cycle of reproduction.   They were horrified when they saw me and started beating around in the trap.  I put a towel over the whole thing and walked them back to my vehicle.  On the way home, I realized that I would need to trap again.  The larger one from the picture was probably mom to these two.  Also, could there be more kittens from this litter?  Oh, dear.  Two was turning into more than two.  And even just two was two too many for Winnie’s Wish.  I thought all the way home about how desperately I needed some adoptions.  Oh, well.  I was already knee-deep in this thing now.  Two kitten siblings.  I needed to get any other possible survivors from this litter, and I needed to get the mom cat, too.  I would send Husband back with the trap the next morning.  I made a spot for two terrified feral kittens in a cage right next to the cage of four feral foster kittens that I wrote about a week ago. 

From the post Trapping Day Number Two

On Wednesday morning of last week, we repeated what we’d done on Tuesday.  Husband set the trap in BIL’s yard on his way to work.  Younger checked the trap half an hour later on her way to work.  Then Older checked the trap two hours later when she headed to work.  And just as on the previous morning, I received a call from Older Daughter.  This time I was in the house by the phone.  I snatched it up.  You’ve got another one, Mom.  I asked if it was another kitten and she said no.  This one’s an adult – dilute calico.  I had the mom!  I was thrilled.  I jumped in my vehicle and headed that way.  When I got there and walked into the backyard this poor gal went nuts.  I hurriedly threw a towel over the trap and raced to my vehicle.  As soon as I set the trap in the backseat and climbed in to drive home, she settled down.  And I had the next fifteen minutes to think about all of this.  I got the calico kitten (from the picture) the previous morning.  I got a sibling to the calico kitten at the same time.  Now I had the mom – the adult dilute calico from the picture.  Unless there were more siblings, I was done.  In just two mornings of trapping I had the kitties I had so hoped to save.  I was feeling pretty great.

When I got home, I put mom into the cage with her kittens and the kittens went right to her.

Mom was horrified and froze solid.  But the kittens climbed all over her anyway.  I was so glad to have them here, safe, and all together.  I shot off a text to BIL to be on the lookout for any other siblings.  But I was pretty sure this was going to be it.  Mom was terribly skinny under that long fur.   With no readily available food to eat while she was pregnant with this litter, it was unlikely that all were born alive.  Then if she had managed to have three, four, five – it was extremely unlikely for all to have lived.  The most likely scenario was that mom managed to give birth to and keep alive just these two.  But we would make sure before abandoning the effort.   We wouldn’t set the trap and chance drawing new cats into BIL’s yard.  But he would keep an eye out for any additional kittens.   If he spotted any, we would get the trap back to his yard.  (There were never any more kittens spotted.)

So that’s Fannie’s story.  There are so many feral cats in our country (and the world).  Fannie was one of the lucky ones.

 

A 70-year Love Story

Folks who read this blog came here over the years for the stories of rescued cats and dogs.  The stories have slowed down because the rescues have ended.  Winnie’s Wish is a sanctuary now which means there aren’t a lot of exciting stories to tell.  I’ve blogged less and less even though there are still 28 cats here (along with dogs, pigs, donkeys, and chickens) who require hours of attention and work each day.  Some of you know I’m still here.  And I will continue to post here and there about these animals I love.

But today, I’m veering way off topic for a brief mention of a Love Story close to my heart.  I’ve mentioned that my parents have been in decline for a while now.  A month ago, I brought in Hospice.   I’ve said to a few friends that if you’d told me a year ago that I would wish for my parents’ deaths, I would have said No Way.  But their suffering became so intense that that was indeed my wish for them.  It was certainly their wish for themselves.  Neither one wanted to be here any longer.  They had only one fear.  That one would go and leave the other one behind.

My parents were married for 68 years.  They were together for 70.  I know everyone probably says how wonderful their parents were, but I don’t have to embellish even a little bit when I sing their praises.  They were great parents.  Good people.  And dear friends of mine during my adult life.  I was so lucky to have them. 

This past week they got their wish.  They moved on from this earthly life.  And they did it just six days apart! 

My pain is deep.  I know I will never stop missing them.  But in the end, they got exactly what they wanted so badly – to get out of here . . .   together.

Mom and Dad – Farewell.

 

A Bright Spot

I wish I could say that my life has gotten better.  It has not.  The house flooded, and was then gutted by the mitigation team.  We still don’t have a contractor starting the build-back because it’s taking insurance so long to respond.  The worst thing, by far, however, is that my parents continue to decline. We have called in Hospice.  I’ve been so lucky to have them for so long in my life.  But watching them suffer here at the end is keeping my heart completely broken.

HERE are some things that have happened since last I wrote.  A bright spot -  wonderful people sent gifts to Winnie’s Wish over the holidays.

 

mr and husband lost Felicity (a Wisher – Frosting), but luckily Hershey has a new sibling – Emily.

 

Hershey

 

Emily

 

 

 

mr and Husband - THANK YOU.

 

Beth and Mike's gift included a gift tag that said - Merry Christmas to the kitties at Winnie’s Wish. In memory of our sweet Guinness who went to the Bridge in June.  Beth and Mike lost their Andy two Christmases ago.  They lost Guinness (Andy’s buddy) this past summer. Guinness on the left. Andy on the right.

 

 

Beth and Mike - THANK YOU.

 

Annie - THANK YOU.

 

Lindsay - THANK YOU. (Lindsay is Maria’s daughter – a gift to Winnie’s Wish was one of the gifts she gave to her mother for Christmas.)

 

June - THANK YOU from back in October.

 

Happy New Year everyone!  Hoping for a peace-filled year.

 

Merry Christmas TO Winnie’s Wish

I mentioned at Thanksgiving that there was, obviously, no Holiday Auction to raise money for Winnie’s Wish.  That was Andrea’s amazing gift and was lost when we all lost her!

But Winnie’s Wish DID receive a gift for Giving Tuesday.  Maria is a constant supporter of Winnie’s Wish and a dear friend.

 

WHAT a gift!

 

SO needed and SO appreciated!

Maria – THANK YOU.

 

Gandolf

Another Wisher has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. 

I’ve mentioned here that ever since Winnie’s Wish became a sanctuary, my mission is to take each Wisher to the end of his or her life.  This is their home.  This is where they will live.  And die.   It’s rough because I know that 30-plus times, I will witness the end of the life of one of these precious kitties.  But this is the mission now.

Gandolf came here in February of 2016.  He was eating out of our dumpster.  His story is here.

Gandolf was already a 5 or 6 or 7-year old cat when I took him in.  He was also feral.  As with many feral cats, over the years he became more and more OK with me.  He never wanted much physical contact.  He seemed in agony when I would pet him.  But he LOVED for me to talk to him.  Each day, I would sweet talk this guy and he would get his “lovey” face on.  Gandolf never caused a moment’s trouble with any other cat.  He was a quiet, gentle soul.

Gandolf gave me a gift with his death.  He was literally the same as he had always been one day.  The next day he didn’t eat (which was unusual because this guy loved his food).  I mentioned it to Older Daughter and we decided to watch him for a couple of days and then see about getting him in to the vet.  I hoped desperately that he was OK because I knew a trip to the vet would be very traumatic for him.  The next day he didn’t eat again.  And I noticed his breathing seemed a little off.  So I spoke to Older again and we decided we’d call the next day to get him in (as much as I hated to do that to him).  That evening I sat with him.  He was not himself.  He didn’t try very hard to scramble away from me.  I told him I was sorry to have to load him up and take him away from his nice comfortable home and that I was sorry he didn’t seem to feel good.  I made him a special heated bed in one of my large cages so that I could see what he did or didn’t eat overnight.  Told him goodnight and that I loved him.

The next day he was gone.

I didn’t get to say the final goodbye to Gandolf.  But he sure gave me a gift.  I didn’t have to get him to a vet.  I didn’t have to force meds.  His life was basically never disrupted.  He just left.  He was anywhere from 15 to 17 years old.  Oh, if it could be that easy every time.

Gandolf – Farewell.

Thanksgiving

As I said in my post yesterday, things here haven’t been great recently.  But there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for.

If you’re reading here, you know of my love for Andrea (of Celestial Kitties).  She’s been gone over 9 months now.  Literally a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of her.  But right now, in November, it’s especially hard.  Andrea always did a Holiday Auction for Winnie’s Wish.  She put SO much work into these auctions – from actually sewing and crocheting many of the items in the auction, to all of the organizing and mailing out and keeping track of the money.  Every auction provided a HUGE contribution to Winnie’s Wish. It was money to “live on” for weeks!  Andrea was the biggest cheerleader Winnie’s Wish has ever had.  She was passionate about my work throughout all these years – rescuing, adopting out, and now providing permanent homes here for the Wishers.  It has been difficult to lose her support.  But it’s been even more difficult to lose her friendship.

Andrea’s husband Greg certainly supported Andrea as she supported me and Winnie’s Wish.  At Andrea’s memorial service earlier this year, gifts were collected for Winnie’s Wish.  In typical “Greg” fashion, he “rounded up” and sent that gift to me to use for the Wisher sanctuary.  I guess Andrea found a way to give even after she was gone.

So Andrea, and Greg – THANK YOU.

I will forever miss Andrea.  But what I can be thankful for is that she and I found each other years ago and developed a deep friendship.  I can be thankful for all of the years of her financial support.  I can be thankful for her love of the Wisher kitties here – three of which she adopted to be her own.

I lost my Rolly dog.  (I blogged about this yesterday.)    I’ve lost some special kitties this year, too.  It would be easy to focus on the loss.  But what each of my furry friends has given me makes the loss easier to bear.  I can truly say that the pain of losing these wonderful little personalities does not outweigh the joy and pleasure they have brought into my life.  I am still surrounded by so many amazing creatures.  They bring such meaning to my life.  For that, I am thankful.

I hope if you are going through your own hardship or loss, you will find a way to see through the tears to the joys that still exist in your life.  That is what I am doing this Thanksgiving Day.

 

Much love.

 

Rolly

 

I have lost my little momma’s boy – Rolly.

Things have been rough recently.   Several weeks ago, my mom fell and ended up in the hospital and then in a rehabilitation center.  A week later, my dad fell, went into the hospital and then into a rehabilitation center.  Then two weeks ago, our house flooded.   A week into that nightmare, Rolly became very sick.  We tried an antibiotic, but he did not get better.  We then did bloodwork and discovered, unfortunately, that he was in full kidney failure.  On the day we did the bloodwork, I could have opted to have him euthanized.  But I just couldn’t do it.  It would have been the right thing to do.  But I simply could not let him go that day.  That was on a Friday, and I knew he would have to get through the weekend.  My vet gave pain meds and I hoped to keep him somewhat comfortable until Tuesday.  My husband had a back procedure on Monday which meant poor Rolly would have to live like this until Tuesday.  I hoped he might die at home.  But I knew that was unlikely.  If I had been a better person, I wouldn’t have kept him alive to suffer three more days.  But it seemed at the time unbearable to say goodbye.  I vowed to lavish him with love and keep him on the pain meds and try to prepare myself to let him go.  He didn’t have a terrible weekend, but by Monday things were really bad.  It was a relief on Tuesday to assist him to the Bridge.  I love him so much; it was the right thing to help him get out of here – it was my duty.

Fourteen years ago, Rolly was a tiny puppy who came into the shelter where my daughters now work.  He was found tied up in a trash bag on a commercial garbage truck.  Someone had put him and his brother into that trash bag, tied it up, and set it out with the garbage to be tossed onto the truck.  This person (monster) had to know they would die a slow agonizing death.  But a worker on the truck saw movement in the trash bag.  My older daughter was doing her internship at the shelter that fall.  She brought the two puppies to our house (she was still living here at that time).  She found a home for the brother and Rolly stayed with us. 

Rolly has been a Momma’s Boy forever.  My husband has a dog (Ressie) who is glued to him constantly.  And I had Rolly.  My husband has reported all these years that Rolly would sit in the window and watch for me any time I left the house.  I have said to my daughters many times that Rolly could never die because he and I needed each other too much.

With my parents in their place in life, and our house gutted, it was terrible timing to lose my little buddy.  I’m hoping for a change of luck.  I’m hoping my parents will maybe recover enough to get back in their home.  And I know eventually we will get our house back.  But my little guy is gone forever now.  I miss him so much.

 

Rolly – Farewell.

 

Egyptian Princess

I’m writing this and posting to my blog because this is what I’ve always done – for years and years now.  When one of my own furry family members dies, or one of my Wishers, I write about it.  So even though I haven’t blogged for a very long time now, I’m writing today in honor and memory of a long-time Wisher.  I realize that no one even knows to stop by the Daily Dose these days, but I’m doing this for her (and me).

Isis became a Wisher in the summer of 2012.  She was a year or two old at that time (or possibly older).  She died last week, at the estimated age of 14 or 15. 

Back in 2012, she was a feral calico with two tiny kittens when I was brought into her story.  The most amazing thing about her (once she was rescued and brought here) was her relationship with a Florida cat turned Wisher – Quinn.   Isis and Quinn became the Matriarch and Patriarch of Winnie’s Wish.  It was amazing really.  They became fast friends which was entertaining all on its own.  But they also “helped” with future rescued cats and kittens, always welcoming and calming the newbies.  Two wonderful cats, a pair, who helped me tame multiple cats and kittens over the years.  They were best friends right up until Quinn's death two years ago.

 

 

 

Isis had been living with IBD for a long time.  She had been treated with both prescription medications and natural supportive products.  She got thinner and thinner no matter how much she ate.  And she was always ready to eat.  The last two weeks of her life she became ravenously hungry.  I fed her the special diet she was on – as much as she wanted – but she lost even more weight in a very short period of time.  Each morning she would run to greet me.  Yes, she liked to have me show up, but she mostly ran to me because there was a scrumptious meal in it for her (smile).  The one thing she ALWAYS did, though, was to meet me at the front door when I was all done with the two-and-a-half hours of animal work every morning.  No matter what time I finished and was heading back to the house, Isis would run to me to be picked up.  I would carry her to a table that sat by the front door.  She expected to be held and petted and talked to and to be set down on this table, and I was to talk to her as I stepped through the door to leave.  She always reached one paw out for me as I slowly closed the door.  And I would say (every day) – “Ok Isis.  See you later.  Love you.”  And we would both move on to the next phases of our days.

Most of my Wishers are cats who started out feral or very nearly so.  They are all cats who do not want people to enter their world.  Except me.  I’ve been accepted by all but two of the Wishers.  So I have a unique and wonderful relationship with each of these sweethearts.  Isis and I had our routine, our special relationship.  I’m honored to have had her in my life and to have been accepted by her.  I miss her very much.

 

 

Isis - Farewell.

 

How Embarrassing!

Hello Friends.  Today’s post is about some gifts that have come to Winnie’s Wish recently.  However, one of the gifts should never have happened and I’m completely embarrassed about it.  Embarrassed,  . . . but NOT disappointed.  :)

First of all, we are in the month of May.  It’s my birthday month.  It’s also the birthday month of a Winnie’s Wish supporter named Maria.  You’ve read my thanks to her here many times before.  Each year in May, Maria combines Mother’s Day and her birthday and has her two adult children make a donation to Winnie’s Wish.  They gift their mom this way, and Maria supports Winnie’s Wish.  It’s such a sweet thing for Maria to do, and how wonderful that her children honor her in this way.    In addition, Maria sent Wish List items as a combination birthday gift to me and in memory of Andrea and the kitties I’ve recently lost.

 

Maria – THANK YOU.

 

Also, three paypal gifts came.  My guess is that these came as a result of all of the loss here recently.  It’s been tough losing so many in such a short span of time - two Wishers and two of our personal cats.  I sure appreciate these paypal gifts.

June – THANK YOU.

Julie – THANK YOU.

Karen – THANK YOU.

 

And now let’s talk about something on the embarrassing side.   You recently read about mr and her husband sending Gotcha Day gifts in honor of their two kitties who were adopted from Winnie’s Wish (Felicity/Frosting and Hershey).  Not long after those Gotcha Day gifts arrived, I received an email from mr.    She said this - Hi Chrystal,  How are you doing? I do hope that things are calming down a bit for you. Amazon should be delivering a package for you (UPS). It is a little something which we hope will brighten your days.   I emailed back that mr’s email had me intrigued.

A package did, in fact, arrive TO WINNIE’S WISH.  But when I opened it, I just sat with my mouth open.  It was a beautiful decorative sun.  I loved this sun.  But I absolutely could not imagine how mr would know that I had gazed at this very item on Amazon more than once.

 

from the ad on Amazon

 

When I finally got my mouth closed, I went to my email and wrote -  THE SUN???? I LOVE IT!!!  HOW in the world did you know I love this sun????    I cannot believe you picked this sun as a gift for me.  mr, thank you so much.  What a thoughtful gift and you absolutely DID brighten my day!!!

Then mr wrote back to me -   Oh, Chrystal -- I am SO glad you like your gift! I saw it on your Amazon wish list, and weeks went by and it wasn't purchased, So now just seemed like the perfect time for some extra sunshine in your life. :)   There should be a note in the box, but if there isn't, the note said that we hope you can feel the warmth of Annaleigh's and Ever's love whenever you look at this sun. 

HOW SWEET!!!  But I then went into a complete panic.  SHE SAW IT ON MY WISH LIST???  I went tearing over to my Amazon Winnie’s Wish Wish List.  And yep – there it was.  Sitting right there at the top of the page.  I could not believe it.  I DID NOT put it there.  Evidently at some point when I was peering at this beautiful sun, I must have done something to send it to my Winnie’s Wish Wish List.  A Wish List that is ENTIRELY for the care of the CATS of Winnie’s Wish!!!!  NOT FOR ME!!!!!

My first thoughts were how much I hoped that nobody saw that sun sitting there on my WINNIE’S WISH Wish List – supposed to be ALL items for the Wishers.  My very next thought was back to what mr had said – that she wanted to send something that might brighten my day.  That she saw it and thought it was the perfect time to send some “extra sunshine “ to me.  That she hoped I could feel the warmth of Analeigh and Evers’ love whenever I looked at the sun.

As embarrassing as it was for that item to show up on my cat sanctuary wish list, it was beautiful that mr saw it and wanted to send it to me.  I can assure you I will be more careful going forward as I would never want anyone to think I would stick a completely personal item on my Wish List for the cats!  But I sure can say that mr accomplished what she set out to do – brighten my day BIG TIME.

mr – THANK YOU.