Catching the California Wave

Oftentimes, nothing in the world makes any sense.

One morning when I was still living at the beach studio, a cat wandered into my home, lost and hungry. I ultimately fostered “Raven” for several months until her owner took her home. During that time, Raven’s owner visited her often. It was obvious she was a very loved and well-cared-for cat. From what I understood, the situation that led Raven to stay with me seemed complicated.

Raven’s owner was convinced that she found me for a reason. She asked me if I believed in signs.

At the time, I wrote:

When Lil’ Raven’s mom and grandmother came to drop her off, they saw a large picture in my kitchen of poppies. The conversation turned to how to make the painting a bit more interesting (it’s a thrift store find). Lil’ Raven’s mom held out her arm. She had a tattoo of a large poppy on her arm. All of this just seems meant to be.

A couple of months ago, Raven’s owner reached out to me because her cat had become very ill. She had already taken the cat to the vet and they wanted thousands of dollars in testing alone. Any treatments would be additional. It was a difficult conversation.

Last week, I learned that Raven’s owner was missing. She was ultimately found 12 days later at the bottom of a cliff. She was identified, in part, by her poppy tattoo.

I do not have any insight, conclusions, or even lessons learned from this experience. It just hurts. I hope in time those lessons come, and even parts of this story begin to make sense. Raven’s owner believed that her cat found me. She believed in signs and said that everything happens for a reason. I hope someday that she was right, because right now, the pieces of this part of our lives, lay scattered.