Jasmine may have looked like a powder puff, but she was one tough cat. She used to tell me stories about the place where she lived before she came here. It was a crack house in Baltimore, and Jasmine and 22 other cats lived in the basement. The police were always pounding on the door, and then the bullets would start flying. But no matter how bad it got, Jasmine was always calm, confident -- and beautiful.
Our human met Jasmine when she found out that all the cats were at Baltimore County Animal Control. The person who called said most of the cats were 10 years old or even older. Our human's heart was breaking. She just couldn't let all those old cats die in the shelter. So she and her friends Ruth and Diana organized a huge rescue and managed to save all 22 cats.
Our human will never forget the day she borrowed a friend's van and went to get the cats. She got lost, of course, and was so worried that the shelter would close before she got there. But the shelter people were really very nice and told her they'd wait until she got there.
Jasmine and her friends had their own separate little house away from the main shelter. There were cats everywhere -- on the furniture, on the floor, on the shelves in the closet. The women who had been caring for them had tears in their eyes when they started getting the cats into carriers to go to the group home. Then the officers who had gotten them out of the crack house came along to say goodbye and put the carriers in the van.
All of the cats except Jasmine and her lifelong friends, Harry and Leo, got foster homes. They were going to stay in the group home until they got adopted. But Jasmine got sick and bit every volunteer who tried to give her medicine. See... I told you she wasn't a powder puff! That's when they came here.
Harry and Leo were small cats, like Jasmine. But they were bright orange. Leo was a funny little cat who loved to share Fritos with our human. He'd put his paw in the bag, pull out a Frito, lick the salt off and then reach into the bag for another one.
And then there was Harry. He had terrible stomach problems and seemed to always be in pain. Maybe that's why he was so grouchy. Living with him was like living with a cranky old man. When he was hungry, which was all the time, he'd meow nonstop until someone gave him food. His meow was so loud we could hear him at the end of our block when we were going for a walk. Then we'd have to run home and give him something to eat before he woke up the other human who lives here and our neighbors.
Jasmine was devoted to Harry. But then, she was devoted to all of us and our human. Tough as she was, she was a very kind, nurturing, loving friend. To me, she was the mother I never knew. She was sort of motherly to our human, too. Our human loved, to just look at her because she was so pretty, and she loved to touch her fur, which felt like soft cotton. Thinking back on the four years they had together, she says she was very fortunate to have been Jasmine's friend because she was one of those once-in-a-lifetime cats. She respected and admired her, and she appreciated her nurturing when she'd had a difficult day, and she loved her more than even Jasmine could imagine. Peaceful journey, dear angel Jasmine, and please stay with us always. Run and hunt with me and sleep with our human just like always.
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