CHAPTER ELEVEN
TILLY AND THE MORNING GLORIES
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Late that afternoon, Tilly and Kiam walked together down the long hallway. It was time to meet Carly and visit Gershom. They met Carly and Calvin coming out of one of the special rooms. They were with Joey, and the black and white car who was his friend. They all looked worried.
“Reuel ran away,” Joey said. “He was supposed to be helping with the kittens in the yard and he took off. I didn’t find out until just now.”
Tilly looked at Joey. She couldn’t believe that he even cared that Reuel ran away. She didn’t like him. She never trusted him. She was still angry that Reuel chose to go with him back when they first went to the eating room.
“Get out of my way,” she said. “I never trusted you or your friends. I’m not surprised that this happened. You and your friends only pretended to want to help out, so you could get out into the yard. Why don’t you run off, too? Gershom needs us right now. We don’t have time to be bothered with you or your friends. Go away.”
Carly stood still, saying nothing. Kiam was quiet too. Joey didn’t say anything at first. They could all see how angry and hurt Tilly was. Reuel had been her roommate when she first came here. Even though he went off with Joey she never stopped loving him. She never gave up hope that he would soon choose to be adopted into God’s family. No matter how many times Reuel had turned his back on her, she never stopped trying to talk to him. Now he had run away. She blamed Joey for this.
“It’s not my fault,” Joey said. “I didn’t know he would run away. I really didn’t. I love him. I love Gershom, too.”
“Let’s go see Gershom,” Kiam said. “We can pray for Reuel. He needs Jesus, and we can pray for him together.”
Since Calvin had already talked and visited with Gershom, he decided to stay behind. He wanted to talk to the cats who couldn’t get out to see Gershom. He wanted to tell them what was going on and answer their questions, so they wouldn’t feel like they were being left out. They loved Gershom too, he explained to Carly, and they needed to know that even if they couldn’t get to see him, he loved them.
Tilly and Kiam and Joey walked together, following Carly to the room where Gershom was resting. They entered the room quietly. He was in a small room by himself. The shelter workers allowed the other cats to visit him freely, because they knew he wouldn’t bite or scratch anyone. Gershom was resting on a bed of clean rags that made up a comfortable place for him to lie down. He smiled when he saw them.
Kiam was the first to reach out to Gershom. He took Gershom’s front paw in both of his, just as he had done with Tilly. “I love you, Gershom,” he said, with tears in his eyes.
The others took turns telling Gershom they loved him. They told him about Reuel running away. They all prayed together, asking Jesus to watch over Reuel and keep him safe. Gershom said he wanted to spend time talking to each of them privately. They decided that Joey would stay with him first. Then it would be Kiam’s turn. Tilly would be third, and Carly would come in after Tilly. Joey sat down next to Gershom while the rest of them left the room. As they did, Gershom reminded them that there were other cats who could use a friendly visit.
“Remember,’ he said, ‘no one here is left alone and without the chance to give their heart to Jesus. If you love me, you will keep my promise to all the others for me.”
Carly told Tilly and Kiam which rooms they should visit. She kept them away from rooms where she knew the cats in them could bite or scratch. Those cats she went to visit herself.
Tilly looked forward to her private time with Gershom. She had so many things to say to him. She had many questions for him. One question had been on her mind all day. She wanted to ask Gershom if it had been worth visiting Buddy. She wanted to know if Gershom would have gone to see Buddy if he had known that Buddy would bite him, and that bite would cost him his life.
Joey finished his visit with Gershom. It was now Kiam’s turn to spend time alone with him. Tilly knew that Gershom loved Kiam. Kiam was the quiet one of the group. He was very good at listening, and he remembered everything that Gershom told him. He often made visits with other helpers. The others talked, while he was the one who held the lonely cat’s paw and just let them feel how much he cared about them. He also knew what it was like to be hated for no reason. Tilly knew he could have let that make him mean inside. Instead, he opened his heart to others who had been through that kind of suffering. Carly said that Kiam was filled with the Holy Spirit. She was right. He had a very special gift of being able to help others.
Carly was still making visits to the sick cats that Tilly could not see. Joey went off to find her. Tilly expected that he would return, and together they would finish her visits, since Kiam was now with Gershom. Instead, Joey stayed with Carly and helped her with her visits. They left Tilly alone with the cats who weren’t biters or scratchers. She continued to go from room to room, making her visits. Many of the cats she saw were very lonely and they liked long visits. It took a long time to see just a few cats. Once she was finished, Tilly decided to rest. Carly and Joey finished their visits and met up with her while she was resting outside the door of Gershom’s small room. Tilly wanted to know why Joey was visiting with Carly. She wanted to know why he was allowed to visit cats that she and Kiam couldn’t see.
“Joey has made a decision about what he wants to do for the rest of his life,” Carly told Tilly. “He’s decided that he wants to live out his life here at the shelter. He wants to be allowed to visit with any of the cats. He knows he could get sick, like Gershom, and he’s willing to accept that.”
“Are you sure about this?” Tilly asked, looking at Joey.
Joey didn’t say anything for a minute. Then, he lifted one of his strong front paws and pointed all around the shelter, and said, “the cats in this shelter are all my friends. I will never leave them, or turn back from helping them. I will live where they live. They are my family in the Lord. I want to stay here and be an example of the love of Jesus to them. I want them to see Jesus in me. Where they die, I will die. Here I will be buried, just like Gershom. Jesus has given me this heart, and nothing but death will part me from my friends here.”
Tilly sat quietly after listening to Joey. She knew in her heart that Gershom was really going to die. God has already made a place in heaven for him. She knew his work on earth was almost over. She knew this because God had given Gershom’s special wisdom and spirit to Joey. Joey would continue the work that Gershom started long ago in this place.