It's Still Gracie's GOTCHA

You may be gone from my sight

but you're never gone from my heart.

~Winnie the Pooh

***

It's our first Gotcha day without Gracie. Today would have marked her ninth one. Gracie and Abby came within 5 weeks of one another. That was not by design. For those who may be new to our blog, Gracie was rescued from the ACA because we were there looking for the feral cat who had adopted us and lived inside my husband's workshop. She had been missing for a week and we wanted to make sure she had not been picked up Animal Care. Gracie was about 6 months old and she had been abandoned at the front door of the ACA. They did not want to let her in because they knew she stood no chance of adoption. We didn't find Button there (the cat we went there to look for) but we found Gracie. Gracie blessed us with nearly 9 years. We truly miss her and still can't believe that she left us way too soon.

*** I am also posting the full story I did for Gracie's GOTCHA in 2011 below. ***

Gracie Grace

In July of 2005 we lost our sweet and sassy little teeny tiny tortie girl named Button.

To this day we do not know what happened, but I now surmise that she simply went into the wooded area adjacent to our home and quietly laid down and died. But at the time we did everything we knew to find her, including making a dreadful trip to the local Animal Care and Control shelter in Clay County Florida.

We were waiting to go back and look in the cages to see if by some chance Button had been picked up accidentally by the ACC. You see Button was a true tortie girl, she had a mind all her own, and in her mind, she wanted to be the workshop cat. No thank you she'd say: I refuse to be an indoor girl. So she was free to roam around in the day, but at night she was happy to go back inside my husband's workshop where she was safe overnight.

***

As we waited to go back inside the ACC, there was this young sweet tabby kitty right outside the front door mewing and playing and interacting with every single person that came inside the shelter. We asked the receptionist about the kitty and she said she had been abandoned and that they didn't want to take her inside because things did not look good for her as they are a very high rate kill shelter (kitties and woofies have 72 hours) and they were hoping someone would just take her, did we want her for free? WE laughed and said we were there to see if our kitty Button was there and no we would pass.

Well...I was in for the shock of my life.

To this day I will never forget being taken to the back room, the last stop before euthanasia.

I saw pure bred cats, I saw everyday cats, I saw fear and the smell of death.

I started crying and I'm even crying now.

I was so heartbroken.

All of these beautiful cats....

But no Button.

She wasn't there.

As were leaving, my husband paused as we passed by the front door watching  this young kitten playing and he said to me, "do you want to take her". What was I thinking? I was thinking she too was going to die if I didn't take her, so we said to the ACC tech, we'll take this tabby with us, and they went and got us a cat container and we picked up the little tabby and off we went back home.

As we were driving home, I thought what have I done?

A 5th cat!!!!

What am I going to do with 5?

I had just added Abby in June, and now I was bring another cat into the mix! (AND Abby had yet to adjust ... but that's another story)

So we brought her in.

Separated her and then took her to the Vet. She was 100% fine and do you know within a few hours after being given the medical A-OK she fit right in and has ever since and now you know Gracie's full GOTCHA story!

***

Yes that was Gracie. 

She fit right in from the very beginning.

She was oh so grateful.

Unassuming.

Sweet.

Playful.

***

I'm so sorry that Gracie had to leave far too soon for the RB. 

Both her Daddy and I miss her so.

But, I do know, without a doubt, we saved her that July. She had what everyone wants and needs:

a true home, where she was loved and cared for.

Where she will always be.

Loved.

Miss you Gracie Grace.