The day was cold and rainy. Yet I drove 20 miles to the Save-A-Pet animal rescue shelter to adopt a kitten, twice. That Saturday night I had a first date with a man I met at a Christmas party.

At the animal shelter I picked out a black kitten. When I held her for the first time, she clung to me and purred. The fact that she was black didn’t bother me. How could such a cute kitten be bad luck? I wanted to take her home. The common sense part of me said, “You’re just here to look.”

I was not prepared to take the kitten home. I didn’t have a cat carrier, water, and food bowl or litter box at home. I handed the kitten back to the animal shelter volunteer. My heart was empty as I drove home. The pouring rain beating against my car and the chill in my bones added to my sadness.

I drove home, but I couldn’t get the kitten out of my mind. How could I be sad? I was going out on a first date. I should be nervous, but not sad.

When I arrived home, I looked at my watch. If I hurried, then I could make it back to the animal shelter and adopt her before they closed. Quickly I changed out of my wet clothes and into some dry ones. Still, the rain had gotten worse. While driving, I prayed to God that I would get there safely. Also, I prayed that no one else had adopted my kitten.

At the shelter I adopted Muffin. I told them that I didn’t have any food or a cat carrier. They gave me some food and put her in a large box. A volunteer put the box in the rear seat of my car. I was ready to drive my kitten home when I looked in the box. She was gone!

I ran back into the shelter and asked for help. The volunteer knew just where to find her. She was hiding under the seat! I secured the top of the box so that Muffin had plenty of air but could not escape. When she cried I said, “It’s okay Muffin. I’m going to take very good care of you.”

That night I went out on my date. That “date” became my husband and Muffin had grown into a beautiful cat and wonderful companion. While Muffin had died some years ago, my husband and I celebrated our twenty-third wedding anniversary in February 2009.