Cat shelter provides companion
About a year ago, we had to put our cat down. My wife, Emily, and our daughter, Bella, immediately wanted another cat. I was not keen on the idea—but I also knew that our dog, Sophie, was fourteen years old. We had had her for twelve years, and we knew she was declining. Emily and Bella went to the Wythe County Animal Society to pick out a cat. Bella chose an orange one and renamed her Ginger. Bella told me that she knew—by the way Ginger allowed her to hold her—that this was the one. My daughter’s instincts were absolutely correct. Sophie had always been content being the queen of the household and ordinarily would not have welcomed another animal into her home. Yet Ginger and Sophie sat together under the bed and never had a cross moment between them. Now we know why. Six weeks after we adopted Ginger, Sophie had to be put down due to a tumor behind her eye. It was one of the most heartbreaking losses we have ever endured. If we had not had Ginger, I truly don’t think any of us would have survived it. We now believe that Sophie was training Ginger to take care of us the way she had all her life. You cannot tell me that animals do not go to heaven. I firmly believe Sophie is there—and that she manifests herself within Ginger, especially in the way Ginger looks after my wife. Within the past year, this loving little feline has brought so much joy to our family during some of our darkest times. Unfortunately, 2025 would bring even darker hours. My father passed away on October 26, 2025—one day after his 83rd birthday. To lose a parent is one of the hardest losses anyone can endure, and once again, Ginger helped sustain our spirits. My father was a tremendous lover of animals. He met Ginger one time and wanted to hold her, but she had only recently come from the shelter and was still very wary of people she didn’t know. I’m certain she would have come to love him, as all animals did. When Ginger first came to us, she had a severe cold from her time in the kennel. We don’t know how long she had been at the shelter, but we do know she had been feral at some point—one of her ears had been clipped. You would never know now that she had ever been antisocial. Ironically, I was the hardest nut for her to crack. When she first arrived and was sick, she would snuggle beside me in bed. Once she recovered, she seemed afraid of me. I never knew whether it was my wheelchair or something I had unknowingly done to frighten her. Eventually, though, she warmed up to me—and now she sleeps every night in the crook of my leg. More importantly, Ginger has become a constant and faithful companion for my wife, who lives with post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related issues. Ginger is the perfect prescription for chasing Emily’s blues away. She has also been a tremendous comfort to our daughter, who spent nearly every night of her life with Sophie sleeping beside her. As a parent, that was perhaps the hardest part of losing Sophie—not just our own grief, or even watching your spouse suffer, but seeing your child in pain and being unable to take it away. There is no explanation or cure for that kind of hurt. We are endlessly grateful to Ginger for the love she has given our family, and we hope we return it in full. We’re fairly confident that we do—because, like Sophie, she is quite content being the sole animal in the house and announces herself each morning with a regal, queenly meow when it’s time for breakfast. I especially want to thank the good folks at the Wythe County Animal Shelter for ensuring Ginger was well cared for until we were able to adopt her. They do the best they can despite being at overflow capacity with both cats and dogs, and they clearly care deeply about every animal they are trying to save. For a $50 adoption fee, we received a companion who will hopefully be part of our family for a very long time. We will never forget such a gift.