I've named my feral cat Licorice. (Notice I said "my"? Once you name them, they are yours.) I had considered naming her H.R.B. for Her Royal Blackness and calling her HeRB for short. I finally decided that Licorice was much more fitting for a sweet black cat of the female gender than HeRB. I had been thinking about naming her from the time we first met in the blackberry bushes. I refrained from doing so because I didn't want to get emotionally involved with her. Hah, that didn't work. Today was the day I finally decided to name her and make her officially mine.
I named her after I came home from church, searched the house for her, and finally discovered her in the recesses of my closet in the towel lined box she had previously ignored--right where I wanted her. Actually, I didn't find her, she meowed at me when she heard me walk into the room. Upon opening the sliding door on the box side of the closet, there she was, looking up at me with her big yellow eyes, and purring her little heart out. She had two wee small kittens nuzzled up to her belly and one that she was still cleaning off.
Ms Licorice is now the proud, purring mother of four kittens, three tiger striped ones and one black and white. All four kittens have white faces. Mother and children are doing well.
As soon as I saw that mommy with her babies, I knew that Her Royal Blackness needed a proper name. She might have spent her life in the wild; and might decide to return once the kittens are gone she has opportunity to go outside again, but in the meantime I will give her a name she can answer to, one that means she is loved.
I will give her a name because I have finally reached a point I can let myself become emotionally attached again. This means taking a chance on loving and being responsible for someone/something other than myself. It also means facing loss down the road. I pray I will be strong when that day comes.
As an aside, one of my granddaughter got to watch the birth of kitten number four. She was thrilled.
The birth process and mothering instincts amaze me. But God and his healing powers amaze me even more.
In awe,
Jan, Licorice and family
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