hero cat

Mollen kept talking about this book they had read at school.
She tried to tell me about it, but we kept being interrupted & she couldn't remember exactly how the story went.
She claimed it was a true story about a cat & i thought she had that mixed up...
Finally, she took the book out of the library so that she could show me the story. She followed me around yesterday, trying to get me to read it all day - but the day slipped away from us & when she brought it to me this morning, i poured myself a cup of coffee & sat down on the couch with Mollen & Gagey & cracked open the hard cover.
It's a very short, simply worded story called, _Hero Cat_ by Eileen Spinelli.
& it *is* based on a true story.
A homeless mother cat births her 5 kittens in an abandoned building. When a fire breaks out, she has to rescue them one by one, and by the time she carries out the fifth kitten, her fur was burnt and her paws injured and she was barely breathing.
At the end of the book, they have an actual picture of the mother cat with her rescued kittens.
Made me cry.
i'm not a softie towards animals - but that little mama cat's act of selfless heroism touched me this morning.
God, make us a generation of mothers who are willing to get singed paws, rescuing our little ones from danger. Make us a generation of mothers who are familiar with sacrifice, protectiveness and heroic acts of love.