Braidy Kitty |
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Braidy "Trust that everything will be okay." |
A fourteen year old boy came to us one day wanting to learn
how to drive horses for a 4-H project at our local County Fair. We agreed
to teach him in exchange for helping us with our own horses. This was a
three year project to start with
showing his yearling horse in halter class to the final year of training
the horse to drive. He
excelled in showmanship and in driving horses but he never mastered the
decorating part of presentation. The night before the show he asked if I
would braid his horse's mane and tail. Because he had done so well in
everything else and since this part was not judged I agreed to braid for him.
He won his class. A few weeks later he brought me a thank you gift for
helping him.... a kitten. I didn't needed another barn cat - we already
had five but the
boy and kitten were hard to refuse. I named the kitten "Braidy" for
braiding the mane and tail on the horse. Braidy learned his name and
would came to me when I called. He rode in the wheelbarrow as I cleaned
the horses pens each day. When it was time to move from one pen to the
next I would tell him to "hang-on" and he would grab the edges of the
wheelbarrow to steady himself as I moved. I love that cat! As Braidy matured he would venture out farther from the barn to hunt mice. Often during the summer we would not see him for days, and this became his usual habit, but he always moved back into the barn when the weather turned cold before winter. This year I didn't see Braidy and began to worry about him. I even had a couple dreams about him being alive but skinny and scared. I called for him when I went for a walk and asked at the local humane society and dog catcher to see if they had seen him. There was no sign of him, hide nor hair. Just before Christmas, the young man who had given this cat to us, came to visit. He offered to bring me another cat, which I refused, I just wanted to know what happened to Braidy. I needed to know if he was okay and if he was alive. That afternoon, I thought I saw Braidy walking down our drive way - going away from the barn. I called to him but I am not sure if he heard me over the strong winds that blew. My husband heard me calling for the cat and went to see if he could find him. When he bent down to pick up something I knew he had Braidy in his arms. I was so happy to know he was okay. He was not skinny but he was nearly wild. I gave him some special cat food and loved on him a lot. He was not comfortable being in the house and only stayed a few minutes after he finished his meal before he wanted out. I carried him out to the barn to the automatic feeder to be sure he knew where food could be found. He stayed around the next day and we brought him inside again. This time he slept all day on the chair by the stove. That was the last time Braidy stayed around. But it is okay because he came back long enough to let me know he is alright and I know now to "Trust that everything will be okay." |
