It Was He Who Rescued Me

Most people are honest when they rescue a stray. But...not many say that their stray actually rescued them. That was exactly the case with Billy. But...I feel like I am getting ahead of myself. Let me take you back to when this sad...yet comforting story began.

It was August 13th, 2017. The sun was shining high and I was crawling out of bed to attend one of my best friends son’s birthday party. I babysat her kids all the time, so it would have been a shame to miss the party. I checked my phone that morning as I always did when I woke up. I found a message from my little sister simply saying, “Amber, I am sorry to be the one to tell you this. But Papaw Billy passed away today.”

To be clear, I had just seen my grandfather when I dropped my siblings off after them spending a month with me since I don’t live in my hometown anymore. But needless to say he was extremely sick, so the news didn’t come as a surprise. But...I would still have to say that isn’t how I expected to wake up. The week had been hard enough as is since I had just started a new tech job the week before.

As I let my phone hit the floor and had a tiny breakdown for a moment, I decided to still attend the party to try to get it off my mind. But after the party, the reality struck once more as I contemplated whether or not I would attempt to go to his funeral. I made an arrangement with my mother in law and she drove me to Lexington, where my husband and I would meet up with my older cousin so she could take us the rest of the way.

Once plans were set, we set into motion on August 17th, 2017. I had cried quite a bit on our way there, and once my cousin dropped me off at my grandfather’s trailer where my aunt had been staying, things seemed to only get worse. As I had arrived, I knocked on the trailer door and to my surprise, no one answered. I was already hesitant enough to go in as was. I never liked going into that trailer...not since Mamaw died two years prior. But now...it seemed an almost impossible task.

My second cousin must have seen me trying to get inside because she called for me to come over to her trailer that was right next door. As I walked into her house she then proceeded to tell me that my mother had been arrested for shoplifting just a few moments before and my aunt had left to speak to the bondsman. My immediate thought was how could she do this to me when I needed her most?

As I watched my aunt pull up, I followed her into the trailer still a little distraught as some of my other relatives arrived. My other aunt and uncle as well as their daughter. My younger cousin and my husband saw a small tabby kitten outside and they needed to go pet it, so they left while I spent time with my family. A few moments went by and my husband walked in with the sweetest little tabby kitten already purring. My immediate words were, “Seth, you know we can’t keep him.”

We already had three cats at home and that was the one over the max allowed at the apartments we were staying in at the time. But when Seth sat this kitten in my arms I was already in love with him. He was purring and nibbling as he became comfortable and wanted to play. I held him for a moment when my aunt informed me that he had been dropped off in the trailer park earlier that day. My heart already ached for this baby. He couldn’t have been more than 6-weeks-old. He was still so tiny, but he could eat hard food.

I expressed my concerns about keeping another cat, and my husband assured me if I wanted him, we would make it work. My aunt loaned me the money to go and get him some food, a littler box, and a cat carrier. When we came home from our unexpected store trip, I made Seth and I dinner. I told Seth not to give him human food as I walked to get my dinner from the oven. Not even two seconds later I turned around to see my husband sharing cheese from his pizza with this tiny kitten sitting next to him. I didn’t have the heart to be upset because he seemed to love his surprise treat. I couldn’t help but to laugh though. Seth had tried to be so sneaky when feeding him the cheese.

After dinner, I decided it was probably best for us to go to bed. And of course, on my way to bed, I grabbed the kitten and carried him with me. As we lay down to go to sleep, it was no surprise that I kept waking up. We had decided to sleep in Papaw’s room that night, and all I smelled was his cologne. It broke my heart every time I woke up. But when I woke up and started crying, the kitten stopped playing and immediately tucked himself in the covers at the foot of the bed, proceeded to crawl up the bed and laid on my chest purring and nudging my tears away with his itty bitty nose. He is the reason I got any sleep at all that night.

As I awoke the next morning to get ready for the funeral, I noticed he had fallen asleep on top of me. I moved him gently and proceeded to get ready for the funeral. My whole family came back to the house after the funeral and they all met him. Even my cousin who began to protest us bringing him home since she was our ride and she already had two dogs traveling with her. Not even a second after she said no, her mother chimed in to say, “Andrea, today has been really hard on her. She is taking that baby home.” Andrea wasn’t happy of course...but I was to say the least. Aunt Jean then turned her attention to me and said “Katydid, what is his name?” I gleefully replied, “I think I will name him Billy.”

I was a tad surprised by her response as she started to laugh. “You named him after dad? You do know he didn’t like cats right?” She was right. Papaw and Mamaw hated animals. Well...they didn’t hate them necessarily. They just preferred them to keep their distance. But...it just seemed like it was meant to be. He found me when I was at my lowest and made me feel...okay.

Looking back at it now, I don’t know what I would have done without him. I can’t imagine my life without him. Everywhere I go, he still follows. Always happy to see me...and man am I happy to see him. Billy was my life raft that day. One that I needed in a time of darkness in my life. It’s true, another family would have taken him in so quickly had he given them the chance. But I am so happy he chose us. It was he who rescued me. Not the other way around. And that is a fact.