It's hard to believe that Annabelle has been living with me six months. Time moves like a roaring river and can slow to a crawl of a babbling stream. But move it does. Annabelle's journey to me is so intertwined with Abby's journey that I cannot separate the two. My shattered heart needed to be able to share the deep love I have for Abby with another, another manx. Abby knew I needed that, and I will always believe she was the one who prompted me to go looking on that particular day at the cats in PetSmart. I had not ever done before, why that day? My belief is there are no coincident and it was meant for me to find "Fritzie". I still laugh when I think that she was called Fritzie. I have no idea why she was named with such an odd name for a beautiful cat. I don't know why she was owner surrendered. She is such a sweetheart. But whatever the back story was it isn't important now because her future is assured. She has been a soothing balm to my sad frozen heart. Watching youth blossom in front of me and getting to know and love her has been a magic elixir to a soul that is badly wounded and needing to pieced back into place. I now know that it will never be quite the same as the loss of my beloved Abby was life transforming for me. You can't undo the damages caused by grief you can only patch them and go forward. Patched and mended as well as they can be you rally and go on, never leaving behind the scars that you bear. For me, the right answer was bringing another into my patched up broken down heart and finding that there is more love to give and receive, and there is another life I have helped to save. I adore this tiny little girl. She brings smiles and joy and love. Lots of love. I am grateful to her and to the girl who came before who will always be the love of life.
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there are all
kinds of love
in this world
but never
the same
love twice.
~f scott fitzgerald
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