Answered Prayer or How Gretchen Came into My Life

Gretchen was a literal answer to prayer. I had lost my great white rescue cat in February of 2004 and had a double mastectomy in March. I missed the companionship of a cat, but this time I wanted a kitten. As sick and miserable as I was at that time I couldn't see that there was any way I could go searching for just the right kitten just then. Frustrated, I started including my desire for just the right kitten in my prayers. I had some very precise conversations with God about the kitten I wanted and that it seemed the only way I would get my cat is if He would literally drop it in my lap. I was far too sick to put much effort into finding one myself and often felt silly, and childish asking for such a thing.

By the time I had started chemo in June, my Aunt had gotten a little orange, six-week-old kitten from a friend of a friend. I was now pining even more for a kitten and expressed to her my desire for one, but wanted a female. She thought the lady still had the sister to her orange kitten and gave me the phone number. I called that very afternoon, Saturday, June 13th, and left the message on her machine that I was interested in the kitten if she still had it. At about ten that night the lady returned my call. She had been out all day and apologized for the hour. I didn't know at the time that she lived thirty miles away. Because of my health situation, she and her young son decided to drive out and deliver the kitten to me that night. So at eleven o'clock that Saturday night, this kind lady appears at my door with this peach and gray fluff cradled in her arms. Like it was with my husband and I nearly forty years ago, it was love at first sight. Up until I had actually seen the kitten I had no idea what the color of it was. It didn't matter, she was pretty, and sweet and literally dropped in my lap.

This wonderful little fluff ball stole my heart. In the wee hours of the night, in the quiet darkness of my room, I offered a tear filled prayer of gratitude for my little kitten. She did exactly as I had envisioned during all those months of recovery. She slept upon my shoulder next to my chin. She was totally dependent on me and that helped me to care about living. As she cuddled close to me she gave me strength to make it through those horrid months of chemo.

As the months went by and she grew in size, she inched her way down from my shoulder onto my lap. I couldn't sleep on my sides at that time and had to lie in bed on my back, propped up on pillows, my legs supported by pillows as well. To Gretchen this was the perfect lap position and as soon as I lay down, she was there, in my lap. Today I can sleep on my sides again, and Gretchen has moved to a new position across my waist at my elbow. At eleven each night she declares it time for me to be in bed and follows me about mewing until I get the covers just so then she takes her place. Sometimes in the night I have to change positions, so she patiently waits for me to get comfortable then resumes her place on my other side. She is heavier now, much heavier, and sometimes the weight of her is a bit uncomfortable, but I am comforted that she is there and dare not complain. For this is the cat I prayed for. I was very specific in my prayers and I got a very specific kind of cat.

Next Tuesday will be May 1st. That is Gretchen's birthday. She will be three years old. I also mark my cancer survival with her arrival. Life is full of miracles, and it's okay to be specific with what kind of miracle you want.