The Many Adventures of a Thede

I have had a VERY eventful week. I'm not even sure where to start. I guess I'll just go in chronological order.

I have been job hunting for the past few months since I got laid off from Westside Theatre Box Office due to one of the shows there closing. I'm supposed to be offered my job back when they get a new show in, but that hasn't happened yet and I can't wait any more! The money has run out! So anyway, I applied for a job at Gazillion Bubble Show, an Off-Broadway show here in New York, and got an email that they wanted to interview me on Thursday morning at 10am. I had a trip to Ohio planned that weekend and had to catch a 1:30pm flight, but I was really happy I could get to the interview in the morning! So, I made it there and everything went well and then I went straight to Newark Airport.

The next morning I woke up in Ohio to my cell phone ringing. They let me know I got the job and I would start on Wednesday, the day after I returned from Ohio! Couldn't have planned the timing better. Of course, I was thrilled to have a job, and even more thrilled that my job has the word "bubbles" in it. I spent the morning in high spirits.

Later that day I got a call from Eduardo, my boyfriend who was looking after my cat at his apartment while I was away. I told him about the job and we chatted a bit. I asked him how Tangent was and he said he hadn't seen him that morning, but was sure he was around. Then at around 3pm Eduardo called me again to say he actually never found Tangent and had been out looking for him for a few hours. He thought he must have jumped out a window where the screen was broken on the corner. I think that, short of someone dying, that was about the worst news I could have gotten. My good mood came crashing down around my ears. I dreaded going to sleep that night thinking that my cat was out there in New York City alone...or worse.

For the next several days I went through varying moods and mind sets over the whole thing. At times I would put the worry aside to have fun with my friends and family. Other times I would be determined to find him and spend hours on the phone and in front of the computer alerting as many people and places I could that my cat was missing. Other times I felt completely hopeless and miserable, and thought maybe there was nothing to do about it but give up and start the grieving process. With every day that passed I felt like the chances of ever finding my cat were getting more and more slim.

On Tuesday morning, five days after Tangent went missing and the last day of my trip, I called a couple animal shelters in New York. I felt a little like I could never call every animal shelter and rescue operation in that giant city, but I had to try and I started with what came up first on google. I gave lost reports to shelters over the phone and was told each time that no one had turned in my cat, but they would keep the report on file and let me know if someone did. Later that day I passed through airport security with the knowledge that the benchmark I had unconsciously set was about to pass. I was going back to New York and my cat would not be there when I got home.

I sat down at the gate, took out my phone, and saw that I had missed a call from an unknown number while getting through security. Over the past several days while I'd been looking for Tangent, I had been answering every call from unknown numbers with a tiny hope that it would be good news about my cat. But although a few people called about some of the adds and flyers that were up, no one actually had found him. I wasn't expecting anything different when the voice on my voicemail identified herself as being from the Animal Center of Queens, one of the shelters I had called that morning. I saved the message because, well, it's just one of those phone calls you want to remember getting.


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It was the most promising thing I'd heard by a mile. I called back right away, but was still thinking it was too good to be true. It must be another white cat. But as I quizzed her about some finer details, it seemed that everything checked out. The cat was found on Friday, the day Tangent had gone missing. He was declawed in the front. He was found on Roosevelt Avenue, a busy street that Eduardo lives off of. Lori at the shelter filled me in that the woman who found him on Friday took him home, but couldn't keep him because he was crying so much her land lord complained. That's when she decided to take him to the shelter. And it was very lucky that I had called that morning to make the report. Lori said the shelter was full and they wouldn't have taken him, but then she had noticed the lost report I had made, so they decided to take him in. There are so many chance occurrences and near misses that lead to me getting him back that I can only conclude that God heard my prayers! I count this experience as a miracle. As I had sat in church that Easter weekend and heard about Jesus being raised out of the grave, I told God that I knew if he could raise the dead he could bring home my cat!

I wasn't able to pick him up until the next evening, since my flight got in late and then I had to start my new job the next morning. I picked him up around 6 and was told he'd just stopped crying about an hour earlier. Poor cat! I've never seen him more happy to be home than the last few days. I think we have a new found appreciation for each other.

This entry is super long, so I'll tell more about my new job some other time. For now, if you'd like, please check out the Animal Center of Queens website and, if you're so inclined, make a donation. I've already made one on behalf of Tangent, but I'm sure they could use more help, as they are a no-kill rescue shelter. Hopefully they can help many more pets and owners have happy endings!