Helping

THE STORY WENT "VIRAL", as it should have. During a world class soccer game, played before a crowd of one hundred thousand,a kitten staggered onto the field, panting with extreme thirst. A world class soccer player, and world class person, stopped the game, and gave the tiny creature water. The kitten seemed to regain strength immediately, and the player left the field and presented it to a stadium employee, with the admonition "please find it a good home. The employee is reported to have replied: "You already have". Indeed he alredy had. The star athlete named the kitten "Goal" and soon welcomed it into his home, permanently. The crowd, increasingly aware of what was happening, reacted with a roaring standing ovation. Maybe Goethe was correct when he said: "Noble be man, compassionate, and good." And also: "If thine own value thou would relish, the world with worth thou must embellish." The nobility and compassionate part is arguable, because it often seems that human behavior is motivated more by hatred than love, contempt, rather than compassion. But inarguable is that we human beings are capabple of transcending our least desirable traits, and reaching a higher level of awareness and action. Jesus, like many others, sets an example proving this and inspriing more of it. When William the Conquerer set foot and planted his flag on English soil, he declared, somewhat prematurely, that henceforth anyone who sets foot in "his" kingdom" would be a free person. Slavery, common among the Anglo-Saxons whom William II conquered, would be no more. He backed up what he said. After the American Civil War, it was written into the constitution that anyone born on American soil is automatically an American citizen. Noble be man, compassionate, and good. Any stray cat which enters my yard will be fed, and, cat willing, will be given a home, mine. I believe that in the past twelve years I have spent about fifty thousand dollars on stray cats. I "built" my house twenty years ago, and it took about eight years for stray cats to start appearing. I don't know what took them so long. They came, and keep coming, to the right place, as if word got out. The first one, whom I named "Mandi" after my favorite bar tender, is now more than twelve years old, and spends much of her time in my lap, as my legs cramp and my bladder fills. Others have come and gone, for various reasons. There was a male who left home probably becaue he preferred to find a new home to spending his days with a group of spayed females. One of my females left home probably because her spayng was an ordeal for her, she blamed it on me, and for several years after it happened she was fearful of me, even though she lived with me. I am certain that they found good homes, because they were both extremely cute, and, as we humans know all too well; cuteness counts. Several have been struck and killed by inattentive or malicious motorists. My solace is that I haven't moved, both of those who left home voluntarily knew where to go if they needed a good meal. The female returned once, the male never did. I wish them well. More recently one of my neighbors brought home two cute black females from the animal shelter, and one of them, a precious little angel with a chronic respiratory condition, expressed her preference to live with me. Whenever I put her outside for some fresh air and exercise, she returns to the front door within mere minutes. If I don't open the door sufficiently soon, she goes to my bedroom window, climbs the window screen, and hangs there, seemingly for as long as it takes. I cannot refuse her, have no intention to, and cannot imagine anyone else feeling any different. Proper medical care for her will soon add to my expenses. My hopes and plans to travel to Europe in retirement are on hold, and are probably vanishing with each bag of specially formulated high nutrition cat food. All virtue signaling aside, I will be content to visit Europe vicariously. My precious babies come first.