Reprinted with permission:

CONTACT: Robin Olson, 203-744-9CAT (9228) or info@kittenassociates.com
NEWS – For Immediate Release

“Kitties For Kids” Program Offers Warm Fuzzies to Return Smiles
to Faces of Area Children in Tragedy’s Wake

Sandy Hook, Conn. – Kitten Associates, “The New Breed of Cat Rescue,” is a home foster-based cat rescue group located in Sandy Hook, Conn. To counter the recent tragedy in their town, Kitten Associates is opening their doors, by appointment only, to residents in their community of Newtown, and especially in Sandy Hook, from Dec. 19 through Jan. 31.

“We know the healing power that time spent petting a cat or watching kittens play with a toy can bring to a child, his or her parents, and even first responders and other adults who feel emotionally overwhelmed,” says Kitten Associates founder, president and award-winning pet blogger, Robin A.F. Olson. “Because animals have no hidden agendas and kittens aren’t threatening, it’s a special kind of healing you just can’t experience any other way.”

Each kitten visit will last for 30 minutes, with the ability to request longer periods or repeat visits. To ensure the safety of both children and the cats, Kitten Associates can only allow children over the age of 4 to meet their foster cats and kittens, and they must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

After children visit with the kittens, and for younger kids 2-4 who can’t visit the live kitties, the organization will be giving each child a free plush kitty. Those particularly affected will receive a K.T. Cat, a super-soft, cuddly play and sleep mate designed to help children express their feelings. The plush will remind them of the comfort of the real animals.

“Kitties For Kids is a way for us to give back and say thank you to the people of Newtown for letting us be a part of this wonderful community,” says the group’s vice president, Sam Moore. “We believe the plush kitties and K.T. Cats will be a small but lasting source of comfort in the weeks and months to come for these kids.”

“Though our mission is rescuing cats and kittens and placing them into loving homes, right now we’re also here to help rescue childhood innocence and put smiles back on the faces of children in our area,” Olson explains. “We hope in this small way, we can do that.”

For more information about the Kitten Associates, a nonprofit organization, visit their website at kittenassociates.org. To set up a visit, request a free plush for your child, or to donate to the plush kitten purchase fund, interested parties should email Kitten Associates at info@kittenassociates.org or call 203-744-9CAT (9228). To learn more about K.T. Cat plush toys, visit http://www.ustimefun.com/kt-cat/.

All my barn cats have been missing all day. I pray they are safe and will return home soon although they are forecasting heavy snow tonight which is rare in this part of Oregon. There is a major blizzard up on the pass but we are down in the valley.

Turner, Crash, Lincoln and Suede, please be safe and come home soon.

I have sat back in the last few days is stunned silence, praying for the people in Newtown and avoiding the television because the tears won’t stop flowing.

When I lost my son Jeremy, the loss was unbearable and he was only 18 hours old. I can’t even begin to imagine what it feels like to lose a child you have touched, hugged, loved and invested time and passion in. I know God must do splendid activities with these angels unaware but it doesn’t stop the ache I feel deep inside.

And yet, the earth still revolves, life continues to cycle and we just have to find a way to keep going in the face of such evil. I fear that unless more people return to the basic Bible values and learn to love everyone that more evil will be showing up soon.

Cyclone took a turn for the worst and I once again raced him to the vet where he spent three iffy days trying to survive. They put a feeding tube inside of him and kept him going. He is back home now, no feeding tube needed- he is weak, but he is a fighter and he is still with us and I am grateful. He just stopped eating, no reason, no alarming bloodwork, urine was good- he just didn’t want to eat. Now, he is eating- deli-sliced chicken and cream cheese balls. I am grateful he is eating but wish his menu items were a bit easier to obtain. It has to be the fresh sliced chicken not the type that comes in the package. Silly kitty-

He lost a pound a day and once again the vets are puzzled and are chalking it up to either something bacterial or viral.

When he first arrived here and I gave him fluids, he would turn into a sprinkler. Now, he is returning the favor and turning my fingers into sprinklers when I give him fluids as he bites quite hard!

Clarity and her kittens are coming along. They will come out to eat when I am in the room and as much as I want to hug the babies, I don’t make a move. Just sit on the floor so they can get used to my presence. Clarity will go in this week to be spayed- she is getting quite fat and I don’t think it is because of the groceries!

Her coloring is stunning it is almost a lavendar color when the light hits it right. She will have to go to a home where they have no other cats though as she won’t even let the other cats near her door- of course that could be her mothering instincts taking over and the spay may calm that down.

We had a wild storm last night and this morning there is no sign of the barn cats anywhere. We have trees down and another storm waiting offshore. I am grateful the roof is still attached.

Mike is starting to feel pain in his legs now. The pump seems to be working and itis a mixed blessing. What he is feeling, the doctor told me Friday is phantom pain from the amputation but he also has an infection going on so they put him on antibiotics. For him walking is strange because he feels his feet for the first time in years and says it is hard to walk because it hurts so much. I just keep telling him, we will just take it one step at a time and just thank God it isn’t worse.

Hug your children tight and give your kitties an extra rub or two. There is sadness this holiday season and so many families have to learn how to say goodbye to loved ones big and small.

I am still unable to touch them, but they are slowly starting to trust me-

I love this poem in its simplicity. I wish to share it with you now-

If you look for me at Christmas time
You won’t need a special star-
I’m no longer wandering Bethlehem
I’m right there where you are.

You may not be aware of me amid the celebration.
You’ll have to look beyond the stores, and all the decorations.

But if you take one moment,
From the list of “Things to Do”
And stop, and listen to your heart,
You’ll see I’m shining through.

You’re the one I want to be with,
You’re the reason that I came-
You’ll find me in the stillness,
as I’m whispering your name.

My Christmas wish is that everyone who reads this, finds it in their heart to pass the kindness and love of this holiday season onto someone or something in need.

As most of you who follow my blog know, sometimes my blog can be downright depressing, absolutely uplifting or even at times boring. I write about my life making no pretense to making stuff up just to make it “interesting.” This story I am about to share could never be made up- and no, it is not about a cat- surprise, surprise!

Mike due to his illness has been confined to a wheelchair in the house. He walks with difficulty with a walker and the use of a leg brace but doesn’t like to get out much. He spends most of his time at his computer playing solitare. I think he is feeling a bit alone in the world right now, as before the surgery he was such an active person.

Before he got sick, he was a custom knifemaker. But two years ago, realizing that he couldn’t control his limbs much anymore, he sold all his knifemaking equipment. It was the second time in our over twenty years of marriage that I saw him cry. We both cried when we put our German Shepherd girl Kenai down at the age of 15.

The life just went out of him after that.He hung around the house in his robe, slept a lot and had no purpose. I finally got him a few months ago to go back in the shop and with my help, we re-organized the shop and he started puttering around it again. Recently, he made a knife. It is a Bowie knife, there is a photo posted in this blog a few days ago about what it looks like. The handle is fossilized ivory and dahl sheephorn. It is beautiful but he couldn’t sell it here because of the economy, so he turned to his old stomping grounds Alaska and found a pawnbroker who wanted to see if for his collection. Asking price $800.00 and trust me, that price is cheap for the beautiful knife that it is!

So it was mailed to one of Mike’s son to go over and show it the guy, get the money and send it back. But tonight, the phone rings and it is the pawnbroker. He isn’t happy with the knife, had a whole list of things wrong with it- which really weren’t wrong with it. Said he wouldn’t buy if for anything under $200.00!
I could see Mike fading every second, and I am sitting in the corner fuming as I am listening to this conversation on speaker phone. I told Mike to have him send it back to us and the call terminated.

Mike was so bummed. I tried to pick his spirits up by pointing out that the man’s business is really robbing other people, paying less for items he knows he can get for more! But it wasn’t working and Mike crawled into bed at 6:00 p.m.

I am at my computer trying to work and praying for God to bring Mike a smile, when the phone rings again. This time it was his son. I said hello (we have to use speakerphone so Mike can hear) and there was no answer. I said hello again and still no answer- then his son spoke up and his voice was quavering. This is what he shared:

After leaving the pawn shop, he had a bad taste in his mouth so he stopped at the Kwick Stop to get a soda. While there, he waited in line and there was a well-dressed gentleman in line behind him. being much like his father he was chatting with the guy and the subject of the knife came up somehow.

After he finished the story, this well dressed gentleman asked him if he might see the knife? he said okay and they went out to the car and so the knife was produced. The man flipped out! He couldn’t say enough wonderful things about this beautiful knife. He said it was made by a Master Craftsman (and it was) and finally asked if he could buy it! He said, “If you want to pay $800.00 for it, I suppose you can buy it.”

The man replied: “I could never pay $800.00 for that knife!”

Mike’s son said, okay and started to put the knife away when the gentleman continued: “If I didn’t give you $1,000.00 for this knife, my buddies back home would never forgive me!”

He then pulled out ten one hundred dollar bills, took the knife and drove off! Mike’s son said at the end- “I didn’t even get his name!”

I had goosebumps at the end of the story. I told my step-son “Angels don’t leave names.”

Mike is smiling today and also his eyes are leaking (must be the cat dander!) and so am I-and his son he has a story attached to his Dad’s knife that will keep him warm for many yearsto come when he shares it!

Part II

It is a new day and this morning, his son just called and he was crying. He plowed his driveway last night and when he woke up this morning, he grew concerned because there was a set of footprints leading up to his house. He got out of bed and went outside and peered out. On the porch was a box. He picked it up and inside was his father’s knife! He said through tears that he had told the man he would love to have bought this knife but didn’t have the monies we were asking, He also told the gentleman that he knows his Dad and if he told him he wanted to buy it, his Dad would have given it to him, and he didn’t want to do that to us. (he was right) we would have just given him the knife. oh- and Dennis has a new knife now!

I am smiling and crying now- what an angel unaware just visited our lives.

This morning as I was sitting on the floor and dishing out food for Jordan and Drama, they both poked their noses out from under the bed. I simply ignored them and continued on doing my thing. Slowly, Jordan- the female siamese who arrived here Nov.11, came and crawled in my lap and headbumped me! Not to be outdone, Drama crawled on my lap, crawled up my chest and stood on my shoulder! Thank God they are both just kittens! We had a pet-fest and I was smiling and thanking God the entire time.

This morning, I was able to pet three of the kittens as well as mom. Mom is in full-blown heat at the moment and the minute it is over- off she goes to the vet! Her kitten days will be long behind her soon.

Received an email from a lady who lives just up the road from me. She had a feral mom and four kittens and couldn’t find anywhere to place them. Apparently, CATS Inc., is on the ASPCA site as that is where she said she found me. I didn’t put me there!

I have two more cats leaving tomorrow so I have room and I told her I would take them. I think she was stunned because she didn’t talk for a minute or two after we connected on the phone. LOL The kittens she had just gotten into the house and they were under the bed in her spare bedroom. The mom was outside, screaming for her babies and the woman was pretty concerned about the family being out in the weather and on the street.

I go over there and the house is beautiful. Sometimes when I rescue, I cringe at the conditions these cats are surviving in but not this time.

The spare bedroom was full of misc. items, furniture, paintings, all sorts of things. I peered under the bed and saw the eyes peering back, of course they were all squished into the corner.
We moved some of the stuff on the bed and then I moved the bed. The woman had stepped out while I tried to catch them- well, one thing I forgot in my haste to get them into the carriers on my own that “I” can’t do anything.

I called the woman back in, we cleared off the rest of the bed, moved some of the stored household goods and I made a trap in the corner of the dresser to corner them in if they went over there.

Then I took a deep breath, knelt down and prayed out loud to God asking Him to allow me to capture them without further frightening them or causing them harm. I also added that they not trash the room in their fright as there were some beautiful pieces on the dressers.

We lifted the mattress and boxsprings and within 20 minutes all four babies were captured and in the carriers!

They are gorgeous, scared and unsocialized. I set the trap for mom who was still on the deck screaming for her babies. I told the woman when the cat goes into the trap, to call me immediately and I would come and get her too. Then I drove away and by the time I reached our driveway, I had to turn around and go back and get the mom.

So the family is together and in hiding right now, but they are set up with everything they need. I am going to leave them alone for 24 hours so they can decompress- they have plenty of food up there and five litterpans.

Here are three of the babies and aren’t they just stunning? I did manage to get flea treatment on all of them but one has a bad eye with drainnage. Getting my hands on him to dose him proved impossible so I will just pray in the next few days I can win their trust and get him treated- Mom is Siamese mix as well-

I think Fog might have had his paw on God’s hand today regarding this capture

Merry Christmas!

Cyclone after 2 months of care-