Author: S. Jenny Boyer
Publisher: Halo Publishing,
Int.
ISBN Number: 978-1-61244-074-3
Genre of Book:
Non-Fiction/Inspirational/Memoir
Pgs: 100
Publication Date: April 2013
Places available for sale: Amazon,
Barnes and Noble, Halo Publishing, and Signed copies from the author.
Review provided by World of Ink
Network
About the Book:
Cats teach us some of life's most
important lessons. After all, nine lives allow them time to get things
right.
God, in His infinite wisdom and I imagine a chuckle or two, often uses one of
His marvelous creatures get our attention. I'm convinced that SpecialT, an
older, gentle, tabby cat, was divinely led to my home and into my heart because
some of the principles I had previously learned about family, friendship, and
God's faithfulness needed reinforcing.
All SpecialT needed to do to get his points across was to be himself. His
story reveals how delightful life can end up being if we can find the path God
wants for us, take it, persevere on it, and not look back. This was one of my
cat's most poignant lessons. I found out after SpecialT had been with me for
many years, that several of his allotted nine lives had already been spent.
There is no doubt in my mind that he polished his life-lessons on his way to
me.
Many cats share one or more of SpecialT's qualities, and are no doubt
life-lesson teachers to some degree. Whether you read his story on a sunny
beach, in front of a fireplace with a cup of tea, out loud to your children or
grandchildren, or quietly to yourself, it is my hope that one of your favorite
cats, past or present, will come to mind and put a smile on your face as you
remember a life-lesson he or she taught to you.
EXCERPT: from Chapter 4, Cat
Fight, Lesson Learned
The night it
happened was quiet and quite dark. Here in the country we have no street lights.
It was the time of a new moon, so shadows were deep and night creatures were
hard to see. Cats roamed the neighborhood freely then, and there were few
complaints from neighbors about their night adventures while the rest of us were
sleeping.
All at once
a screech of gigantic proportions woke me from a sound sleep. I sat straight up
in bed, then rushed to the window to see what was happening. There in the dark
shadows of the driveway I could just make out T face-to-face with Wildcat, the
next door neighbor's cat who was so jealous of T that the neighbor had returned
T to live with us. The howls went back and forth on different tone levels, each
escalating in sound. I grabbed my robe and slippers and literally leaped down
the steps to put a stop this fracas, all the while whispering a
prayer.
God,
please protect T and Wildcat from each other. T is so gentle, I do not think he
knows how to hold his own in a fight with Wildcat.
I ran out of
the house through the garage just as the physical battle took place. Legs were
flying in all directions, gray and orange intertwined like a pinwheel out of
control, all accompanied by howls of distress and anger. I turned on the
driveway lights and grabbed an old aluminum pot and a small hand rake and began
beating them together with all the force I could muster as I ran towards the fur
ball action At the harsh banging sounds, the entangled cats split apart, with
Wildcat running home, and T lying still on the blacktop.
Oh God,
let T be okay.
I picked up
T and he looked at me with his calm golden eyes, his body limp, but breathing. I
could imagine him asking me, "What just happened, Mom? Wasn't that a cat, isn't
he supposed to be my friend?" I searched T's body for a puncture wound, which I
knew from past experience with other cats could easily become infected, but with
his long hair it was difficult to see down to T's skin. The one thing I did find
was a V-shaped split in one of his ears, slightly tinged with blood.
Back we went
to the vet when they opened the next morning. No real damage had been done, no
puncture wounds to the body, but the cartilage in the ear would never heal
together, and could not be stitched together, so T would always sport a natural
“V” to remind us and him of his close call with danger. We called it his
"victory" notch.
What Others are Saying:
Boyer’s book is a memoir-type book
about her very special cat which she called SpecialT. He was worldly yet very
gentle. He was a wonderful companion to her. She traces the story from when she
first saw SpecialT appear on her doorstep and how she knew that this older cat
would be the pet who would grace her life always. And SpecialT did grace her
life for many years to come. ~Irene Roth
About the Author:
Ms. Boyer is a retired nurse, an Infection Control
Practitioner, whose world changed dramatically when she let the words swirling
inside her escape to paper. Her story of her beloved cat, how he came to live
with her later in his life and the lessons she learned from him, changed her
life for the better. She lives in Frederick, Maryland with her husband Jim. She
has three daughters and one step-daughter, and four grandchildren. Several of
these family members are in her book. She continues to write about how other
creatures impact her life, and the lives of others.
The author's desire is to inspire others to appreciate how
God uses animals, sometimes very wise and wonderful ones like SpecialT,
to enrich our lives if we only open our hearts and minds to the
lessons they can teach us, just by being themselves.
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