MOMMY, PLEASE HELP

The little boy tugged at his mother's arm and asked her to help the lady with tears in her eyes. He was watching a woman plead with the volunteer at the animal shelter to give this litter of stray kittens a chance to be adopted. The policy of this shelter was that the kittens must weigh one and half pounds before they could take them.

"Bring them back when they have gained weight." If only it were that simple exclaimed Maureen!!! She then proceeded to explain that she and her husband were only in California to attend a wedding. They lived on the east coast.

They were scheduled to fly home a few days ago but changed their flight to give them time to find a home for these kittens.

This shelter was their last hope. They had been to other shelters as well. Maureen offered to pay for food to fatten up the tiny kittens. "Rules are rules", said the volunteer. We cannot take them until they are bigger.

Joan and her son, Pat, were known to those at the shelter. They lived near a park where they often saw homeless animals. If possible, they would bring those animals to the shelter to be adopted. Today, they brought in three puppies. Properly fattened up to meet the weight requirements.

Joan approached Maureen and her husband; she offered to take these kittens home with her until they gained weight. Little Pat had a big smile on his face when he said that he would feed the kittens.

The volunteer watched this exchange and offered to provide shots for the kittens. This she was able to do. Maureen gave Joan money for cat food and thanked her for her kindness. She then told Joan that they tried to bring the mother cat as well but she ran away.

Maureen and Stan were staying at their sons home for a week while their son and his new bride were on their honeymoon.

Stan was reading on the patio, when a beautiful, young cat, nuzzled his leg. He proceeded to pet the cat. The cat looked undernourished and so Stan fed her. The cat ate every morsel of food and drank all the water. She was really hungry. Next day, the same thing happened. On the third day, the cat entered the house and checked it out.

Maureen asked the neighbors if they knew who this cat belonged to. The cat appeared to be a stray. On the fourth day, the cat showed up with a kitten in her mouth and placed the kitten by the bowl of milk. Then she went for the rest of her kittens.

Maureen and Stan were dumbfounded. They found themselves adopted by a mother cat and her newborns.

This posed a problem. Their son would not return for a week after they left. His new bride was allergic to cats. So Maureen and Stan knocked on doors in the neighborhood to see in anyone would take the cats.

No luck in finding a home. They were directed to several animal shelters miles away.

Finding a shelter who would take the family of cats proved to be difficult. The shelter where they met Joan and her son was in a city miles away from where they were staying. They were so grateful that Joan and Pat volunteered to take the kittens.

Problem solved...................or so they thought......................

SURPRISE!!!!!Mother cat was there to greet them upon their return to the house. She was not alone...............She had another kitten with her. They were hungry.

Stan fed the two cats while Maureen called the shelter to ask them for Joan's phone number. The shelter would not give out her number but did agree to call Joan on their behalf. The shelter contacted Joan and she in turn called Maureen.
YES................she would take the mother and kitten (who needed to put on weight)

Getting momma cat into a box was not an easy task. She meowed the entire trip.

They took the cats to Joan's home and momma cat was reunited with the rest of her kittens.

Maureen and Stan had only a few hours to catch their flight back to the east coast. Mission accomplished.............just in the nick of time.

Good news a few weeks later. Kittens gained weight and were adopted.

BEAUTY

The young pretty blond smiled and tried to understand what the Mayan native was trying to tell her. They gestured to one another but she did not understand. She looked around and asked if anyone could interpret what was being said.

A small group of people had been watching her and someone stepped forward and said, "they are trying to tell you that you are as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside."

She blushed as she hugged the person who looked up and kept smiling at her.

These people were strangers to one another but they recognized a good, loving heart. What did this young woman do to attract their attention?

She did what she normally did. She showed concern and love for her fellowman.

This was part of who she was. It was part of her strong Faith in God. She treated others as she would like to be treated herself. She did not know that she was doing anything special.

Why she stood out in the Yucatan at that time is that they had rarely seen a tall, hazel eyed blond in their area. And so they watched her as she smiled and laughed and helped a young child out of the mud puddle that he fell into. They watched as she smiled and helped someone else. They watched her every movement. And they liked what they saw.

She had never considered herself beautiful but that day and that comment made her feel beautiful. She was not concerned about her physical beauty but she was so touched that her inner beauty was recognized. To her, that was most important.