Tears of Joi(a)

Some of my more attentive readers, or those with great memories (which means like one person will remember this) will recall that the night before we took off from California one of our cats ran away.

Joia Maria, often called Mama Joi, was one of first fosters. She was the first to just sort of stay on and never leave. She came with two nursing kittens (one was Gemma our manx kitty) but we could not be sure either were her offspring as Joia was being used as a milking station at the shelter she was rescued from by Milo. She let Gemma nurse on her for a very long time. Whenever I mentioned anything about this, TGF would say, "But I thought you were in favor of extended breastfeeding", while she smirked. What.ever.

Joia was eventually spotted and later caught by the new tenant at casa de Cedar. She was picked up by a friend who hosted until we could figure out what to do next. Both TGF and I were extremely hesitant about flying her in cargo (not to mentioned all the rigmarole involved and costs). I emailed a number of people and organizations, contacted airlines to price things out. Also the balance in our house has really changed. Grace has continued to sleep on our bed, even if others on there, which is amazing. Sure she still strikes out at the others but this is a huge improvement.

Then out of the blue Alex, our patron saint of moving, said she wanted to give it a shot to take Miss Joia into her home. I have been getting emails about Joia's adjustment to her new home and the updates have been so positive. Seriously I start to cry when I think of Joia being so happy. It sounds like part of Joia's wel, joy, is being the only cat and lots of attention. I swear my heart swells with happiness every time I read a message about her.

I miss her but it sounds like such a good home that I feel I can let go a bit a more, relax and know she is safe.