There if I Need Them

One of the few pictures I have of just my mother-in-law and I.

Our cat Stanley isn’t really your ordinary cat. He does all of the things ordinary cats do, but to our neighbor’s dog, Ivy, he’s more than that. Ivy is completely blind. She gets around pretty well according to our neighbor, Dave, but she has lost both eyes and completely depends on Dave for her care. Every morning Dave takes Ivy for walks around the neighborhood. About mid-summer my husband noticed that Stanley had begun to accompany Dave and Ivy on their walks. He said that as they walked, Stanley would walk alongside them. If they stopped, Stanley flopped down on the ground in front of Ivy and waited. Dave and his wife have come to refer to Stanley as “Ivy’s seeing-eye cat,” for good reason. If Ivy starts to venture off to one side or the other, Stanley will nudge her back. Many days when I’m pulling out of the driveway I’ll see Stanley sitting on the front porch of their house next to Ivy as she waits for Dave to come out. Sometimes Stanley will sit between our houses looking over as if to say “I’m right here if you need me Ivy.” As I sat down to write this month’s column my head has been clouded with the recent loss of my mother-in-law to a relatively short battle with cancer. At times I have felt like I’ve been stumbling around trying to make my way. I believe that God has been there, providing for me and meeting my needs, but in addition to that my friends were there to support me with kindness and love. They walked along side me, stopped, and waited. They stayed nearby saying “We’re here if you need us,” and they sat with me as I waited for the inevitable. They said things that made me feel better and had a shoulder ready when I needed to cry. They knew what I needed even when I didn’t, doing things like providing meals or watching our dog. And when the time came for us to say goodbye, they were with me then too both in person and with words of encouragement. Stanley doesn’t know it but he is an important part of Ivy’s life now. I think that Ivy loves and appreciates Stanley as much as I love and appreciate those closest to me. Ivy and I both know that when things are at their darkest, there will always be someone there to help us along.  Thank you Stanley, for watching out for Ivy. And thank you my friends, for watching out for me.

Published October, 2010