Two years ago, when I walked into The Pet Centre, I was grief stricken and struggling to process the emotions of life after returning home from an amazing season in South Africa and the struggles that came alongside life living in a Covid stricken world.
And as I looked at the pet display, I saw a little white followed by glistening eyes hidden deep in the barrel. A young cat, not quite kitten, not quite adult. As soon as I saw her name and heard her story, I knew she was mine, I knew it was meant to be.
Little miss Nora became mine on 4th August 2020. She was anxious, shy, scared of people, and she was traumatised from two failed adoptions. After having spent 18 months loving some young ones in South Africa followed by 6 months of lockdowns, isolation and Covid fear, I was feeling lonely and grief stricken.
I thought that loving her, giving her a safe space and a human who would wholeheartedly love her and understand her anxieties would give me purpose and help me to heal and grieve, little did I know just how much I needed her, more than she needed me.
A reason for the season….
A reason for the season, a saying said all too often and one I don’t always agree with, and although I don’t understand the reason for this season to have come to an end so soon, I am grateful for the past season.
Yesterday: 4th August 2022, exactly two years after we first said Hello, I had to say goodbye to my sweet girl who has held me through the isolation of lockdowns, helped me heal as I have grieved my season in Africa and been my rock through the past two years.
I truly believe God placed my sweet girl in my path for me to fall in love with her and guide me through the past season and it was truly the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make, but I know the peace that I felt and that my girl felt in those last few hours and moments was a gift from God.
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John chapter 14, verse 27)
I don’t know if I’ll ever understand the reason this season was so so short, or why it has now come to a heart-breaking end sparking the beginning of another grief journey, grieving for the little fluff ball who helped me through this last season.
“The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” (Psalm chapter 34, verse 18)
Whilst I don’t want this season to be over, or to be walking this road again without my sweet girl beside me every step of the way, snuggling up to me when the world is all too much and being right by my side with every tear shed.
I know that for this season there was a reason, God’s hand was in it, he bought me and my girl together and he’s been right there beside us both, and I know that as I walk this journey his footprints are the ones in the sand because as I’ve met grief again I know he’s carrying me, and I know that with him by my side I will see the sunshine again one day soon.
I am a Young Salvationist who lives in Upper Hutt, Wellington. I am passionate about enhancing the life experiences of others and do this in my paid employment as a Support worker for those with Intellectual Disabilities and as a volunteer leader for GirlGuiding New Zealand. I love to create, write and travel the world and have a passion for submerging myself in the cultures of each place I travel. I left my heart in Africa a month before Covid sent the world into lockdown and I cannot wait to be able to return and serve in a continent that stole so much of my heart.