{"id":352,"date":"2011-09-25T07:00:09","date_gmt":"2011-09-25T11:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/myhappyplace\/?p=352"},"modified":"2011-09-24T22:10:40","modified_gmt":"2011-09-25T02:10:40","slug":"sammy-the-hiding-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/09\/sammy-the-hiding-cat.html","title":{"rendered":"Sammy the Hiding Cat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Beautiful long-haired Siamese Sammy walks the perimeter of the porch, winding near me and away from me, enticing me with low, prrr-meows, but staying two inches from my outstretched hand.\u00a0 This is a familiar routine. \u201cSammy, remember how you love me?\u201d Finally, the tips of my fingers make contact with his fur, and, as soon as he feels the caress, he does<\/em> remember. He leans in to me\u2026.moves toward me\u2026presses his side to my leg\u2026relaxes, purrs, and stays.\u00a0 This is the result of almost two years of loving Sammy the Hiding Cat.<\/p>\n

I met Sammy at the feed store.\u00a0 I was hefting feed on to the cart when I caught a glimpse of the Animal Shelter cat cage.\u00a0 I left my cart to look closely at the gorgeous large cat inside. He was healthy and fat and obviously not a stray\u2026but when I looked in his eyes I almost choked with sadness. I couldn\u2019t understand this cloud of depression that settled around me and this caged cat.<\/p>\n

\u201cJill? What\u2019s this cat\u2019s story?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jill is a practical, down-to-earth business woman and not prone to my dramatics but her face was serious when she turned to me and said, \u201cDoes he look like he\u2019s crying to you?\u201d Sammy\u2019s story was that his owner had died and he had no place to go.\u00a0 Well, of course, I took him home.\u00a0 As soon as I opened the pet taxi, Sammy ran under my bed. I thought maybe he would need some time to adjust\u2026a few hours? A few days? A few months?<\/p>\n

Sammy lived under my bed\u2026.sneaking out only at night to grab a bite to eat\u2026.for six months. I tried catching him and holding him close. I tried sitting quietly and enticing him with treats. I had never met a cat I couldn\u2019t win over\u2026until I met Sammy. Living under my bed was not a life of quality for an animal, so I decided to introduce him to my other cats and let him experience the outdoors. He adjusted well and loved to run around the farm, but I knew I had given up my chance of ever holding him and I worried about what would happen if he ever needed human assistance. I continued to talk to him when I fed him which was the only time he would even get close to me. He would listen–and stay at least a foot away.<\/p>\n

But one day as he was eating I was stealthy enough to lightly touch him and he surprised me\u2014and himself\u2014by leaning in to my hand. I could tell he remembered this thing called petting. He forgot, for an instant, to be afraid. Now, every day, I have to remind Sammy that he loves me.<\/p>\n

Sammy is my daily reminder that what I see in the souls around me is not necessarily what is hiding underneath. Sometimes people have to be reminded to love.\u00a0 We all have our protective shields. When I\u2019m feeling my most vulnerable, I laugh\u2026a lot. Others become sullen, quiet, or gruff.\u00a0 The challenge is to not discount the person who is laughing like an idiot or growling judgmental commentary. Under that exterior is a soul\u2014a soul connected to me. We are all connected. It may take time, patience and energy, but I\u2019m sure that each person I meet can be reminded of love.\u00a0 And, truly\u2026what else is more worthy of my time than love?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beautiful long-haired Siamese Sammy walks the perimeter of the porch, winding near me and away from me, enticing me with low, prrr-meows, but staying two inches from my outstretched hand.\u00a0 This is a familiar routine. \u201cSammy, remember how you love me?\u201d Finally, the tips of my fingers make contact with his fur, and, as soon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":386,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,73,10,113,87,124,13,17],"tags":[251,280,290],"class_list":["post-352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animal-rescue","category-animal-shelter","category-cats","category-feed-store","category-inspiration","category-love","category-pets","category-purposeful-living","tag-animal-rescue","tag-inspiration","tag-love"],"yoast_head":"\nSammy the Hiding Cat - My Happy Place<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/09\/sammy-the-hiding-cat.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sammy the Hiding Cat - My Happy Place\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beautiful long-haired Siamese Sammy walks the perimeter of the porch, winding near me and away from me, enticing me with low, prrr-meows, but staying two inches from my outstretched hand.\u00a0 This is a familiar routine. \u201cSammy, remember how you love me?\u201d Finally, the tips of my fingers make contact with his fur, and, as soon…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/09\/sammy-the-hiding-cat.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"My Happy Place\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-25T11:00:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-09-25T02:10:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/myhappyplace\/files\/2011\/05\/Sammy-300x259.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"kjackson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sammy the Hiding Cat - 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