Siti here!
My mission is to help you find your inner peace through art.
Did you have a pet when you were growing up? I did.
My kitten
When I was around 11 years old, a classmate gave me a cute kitten and I brought it home. My mom had a sinus problem so she didn’t let me bring the kitten in the house, so I had to keep it outside.
As days went by, my mom grew to like the kitten. Sadly, the kitten had a short life. One day I came home from school and I found out that it was badly injured from a vicious, unknown attack.
Shortly after, my kitten died. I was devastated. We buried it in our backyard.
Yusuf’s National Junior Honor Society Project
My eldest son told me many times that I should get a cat. But I knew my husband wasn’t so keen with the idea, even though he loves cats. So I was surprised when he allowed our younger son to do a fostering project for his National Junior Honor Society Project. Of course, I secretly grinned because I love cats!
We were anxiously waiting to get the cat from the foster place. We were only told that the cat was a female, orange and white, tabby cat. However, we didn’t have a picture of her yet.
When the day finally came, we were so thrilled to find out that the cat was so adorable. Penny was 7 months old, very sweet, and had a calm personality. She was very shy at first and it took her almost two weeks to warm up to us.
USA National Flower Print
Ramadan’s Cute Guest
When Ramadan came, I dropped everything to focus on my worship. This year was special because we were accompanied by a wonderful, cute guest. I loved feeding Penny. I accompanied her when she ate. Also, I made sure she felt comfortable in our home.
She was such a sweet, polite and well-behaved cat. When it was just the two of us, I’d encourage her to explore our home. I didn’t know how I was supposed to treat a foster cat, I just treated her like she was part of our family.
Even though we had to leave her alone sometimes, so we could go to the mosque in the evening, I couldn’t help but worry about her. When we reached home, the first thing we’d want to do was to see Penny. She was happy to be let out of our son’s room and usually sprinted to our room to lounge on our bed.
The last 10 nights of Ramadan were very special to me. As Penny slept a lot during the day, she was very active at night. She accompanied me during my night prayers, playing with my prayer mat. She also sat next to me when I prayed and recited the Quran.
As time passed, she became more comfortable with us. She followed me around when it was time to feed her. She slept on our bed and loved to be under the cover in order to hide from us! She also licked us, I guess to show that she loved us.
It’s hard to say goodbye
As Ramadhan came to an end, our fostering was also coming to an end. I thought it would be easy to depart from Penny, but I was wrong.
My husband recorded the moments of me with Penny before her foster mom came to pick her up. Watch the video below:
I made a special prayer in Ramadhan for this sweet kittie to have a healthy life for as long as she’s alive.
I’ll miss you, Penny! I hope that, if and when God allows, we’ll meet again. Ameen.
Siti
PS: Would I foster and adopt cats in the future? YES! In fact, when the next opportunity presents itself, I’ll take it without hesitation. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) loved cats, as he was merciful even to animals. I want to follow what my Prophet did!
