This is a story about a lucky little cat named Nala. It was relayed to me via email, and I’ve posted it here because it is a heartwarming tale.

One day about two years ago, a Santa Maria woman named Debbie went to the Arroyo Grande Veterinary Clinic to have her son’s dog put to sleep. As she sat crying, a cat came up to her and began licking the tears away and nuzzling her face.

Off and on for the next three months the woman was at the clinic for one or another of her animals, and this cat was always there. Finally she convinced her husband that they needed to bring the cat home and make her a part of their family.

Nala, as she was subsequently named, had been dropped off by her owners of eight years because of a urinary tract infection; they wanted her put to sleep. The vet, seeing what a sweet cat she was, fixed her up with some antibiotics, put her on a diet, and she was good as new. How sad that her owners didn’t love her enough to do that for her. Now she lived at the clinic waiting for someone to adopt her.

As a strictly indoor cat in her new home at Debbie’s, Nala had gotten out a couple of times but never for very long. Frightened of the big outside, she usually ran right back in.

The night of December 11th, 2009, Nala slipped out through the kitchen door into the garage without being noticed. Unawares, Debbie went to bed shortly thereafter. When her husband, Jay, came home from work and opened the garage door, Nala darted out into the rain, took off running down the street and disappeared.

Debbie walked around the neighborhood for the next two weeks with a picture of Nala, calling her name and knocking on doors to no avail. She prayed that Nala would somehow come home for Christmas.

Christmas Eve Debbie went to church, prayed for all her loved ones and friends, then added a plea for Nala’s return. Afterwards she returned home, wrapped a few gifts, and went to bed.

Jay was up at 5:00am Christmas morning to care for the animals. When he went outside to feed two stray cats, ones that had previously been “fixed” by Catalyst, there was Nala!

He ran to tell the still sleeping Debbie, who jumped out of bed exclaiming, “Merry Christmas, it’s a Christmas Miracle!”

And indeed it was. May all your lives be filled with miracles throughout the coming year.