Yesterday, Mike and I decided to use a bit of our tax money to go and say goodbye to my Dad. It is over 500 miles to their home and I drove up and back in one day as there was no one available to stay with the cats. All volunteers otherwise busy.

All I can say is I am glad and sad and sorry in one breath that I went, but it was something I needed to do. It built bridges long needed between me and my mother, and as for my dad- well- the man I “met” yesterday was a far cry from the man I remember him to be.

But goodbyes have been said and with a mad dash home- life goes on. I came back to a home only partly demolished by kitties thinking they had been abandoned again and that was a traumatic to witness as the trip was for me to undergo.

I leave with this note: There are no such things as perfect families. Each unit has its flaws even the families whose Christmas portraits hang over the mantel every year. We all get along as best we can, do what we can to survive with the tools we are given to survive. Yesterday, I very much felt like a feral cat fighting to keep alive in my mind the image of the father I knew him once to be and not accepting the man who now puts on his shoes.

Of course on the way as hurried as the trip was- I run into what else- cats in need of help. Another time when my emotions aren’t so close to the surface, I will share the story of the Carl’s Jr cats one which might make many grin and even chortle. As well as on the return trip in the town of Weed running into rest stop kitties who were starving and who “no one” could get close to…well guess who did?

Are they added to my family now? no, but I have alerted other cat lovers in the area of their existence and hopefully soon they will be safe in their new families.

Love each other as if tomorrow is only a promise and hug your furry friends tight-