Napoleon and Mom!

Randi is back! She's been terribly ill, and I was worried I'd never see her again. But today she was on the corner with Napoleon. She was wearing pajama bottoms because one of her legs is still swollen, and that can't be good, but she looked very happy.

Her illness was lonely and isolating. She mentioned the cards I sent her way, as well as the book and the little cat ornament. They gave her something to look at and think about when she was in the hospital. She missed talking to people, and she missed Napoleon so much. She told me a harrowing story of how, when she was filled with cancer drugs, she held Napoleon close for comfort and, when she came to, was sad to discover it was only a pillow.

When I arrived at her corner, she was deep in conversation with a cat lover who was asking about Napoleon. I told the woman how tiny Napoleon was when we first met, less than a month old, and how happy and loved and chill he is. I told her how the day Napoleon was rescued in the park by Caleb and Randi was the luckiest day of his life.

"No," Randi said. "It was the luckiest day of my life."

The woman was so touched she put an extra $5 in the cup.

Napoleon slept through all this. An oblivious fur shrimp, accepting all the attention and affection as his due. He's such a content, trusting animal that you can tell he's cared for and loved.