The Saddest Story Ever With a Happy Ending

A few years ago, a cat was left at my in-law's house. They suspect she was abandoned. She was a beautiful long haired white cat. She lived outside their house and they kept her fed. The girls named her Snowhite. Well, Snowhite was a house cat. She didn't seem to have any fears when it came to cars and shortly after she showed up at my their house she was hit by a car. They took her to the vet who told them her one leg would never work again. She wasn't in pain she just would have a major limp for the rest of her life.

They live out in the country near a mountain with coyotes on it. They knew she would not survive long with her disability. So, the day we moved into this house, Snowhite moved in too. She lived out in our barn and seemed to adapt well to our yard. After a few months, she started sneaking into the house. The kids were always delighted to find her nestled in their closets. Aaron and I eventually gave in and she started living indoors with us. Snowhite was the perfect cat. She was very social and loved to be around our family. In fact, she would join us every night for scripture study and prayer. Other than leaving white hair all over the house, we all enjoyed having her as part of the family. When spring came, she would spend time outside during the day then she would come in at night.

Last summer when we went on vacation, we asked the neighbor boy to check in on her and feed her. While we were gone another neighbor noticed her outside wandering around. They knew we had a white cat but hadn't noticed the limp until then. They thought she had just barely been hit by a car. They were quite worried about her. Since we were out of town, they took her to another neighbor that works in animal control. There was some type of misunderstanding and he understood that she was a stray cat. He took her to a vet who said she would never have use of the leg again and so they euthanized her.

We returned the next day and called up our neighbor to let him know we would be picking up our cat when we found out she wouldn't be coming home. It was devastating to our family. She was a cherished pet by all of us. I feel terrible that with all the pictures I take, I didn't take a single picture of our Snowhite. We all still think of her often and miss her terribly.

Now, for the happy ending. We recently brought home two kittens. Ethan and Savanah insisted all they wanted for Christmas was kittens. My sister-in-law's cat had kittens a few weeks before. Savanah named her kitten Princess.Ethan named his kitten Brightheart after a character in the children's book series Warriors. They are books written about cats that fight in the forest with tooth and claw.The kittens seem to be adjusting to thier new home. Although, at times they probably get more attention than they want.

It's been an early Christmas and a happy ending.