At the suggestion of a trusted friend, I composed a letter today which I plan to deliver tomorrow. Shock over the poisoning of the neighborhood cats I had befriended, and worry that the horrific deeds will most likely never be prosecuted, have held me hostage for the past three weeks. The cats were all I could think of and I was desperate for closure.
I can sometimes best express myself when I write out my thoughts and feelings, so I did that today in my letter to the cruel neighbors. It wasn't so much an angry letter as an expression of sadness and grief that someone was so heartless as to end the life of those innocent animals. In the letter, I listed some of the cats by name and gave a short synopsis of each precious life, as I had come to know it. I wanted the neighbors to know the cats had been loved and cared for by someone. They were not useless trash to be callously regarded and discarded.
Will my letter make a difference to the heartless neighbors? I don't imagine it will, but it surely makes a difference to me. I included pictures of my furry friends and expressed that some of the neighbors who've been calling were outraged and wanted to know how to "remedy" the situation, but were told to not harm the neighbors' property or person. I also expressed that we knew we would not be the final judges for the animal abusers' cruel and cowardly acts. As hard as it was for me to do, I also told them I asked that God be more merciful to them than they had been to the animals they'd harmed.
I think I can finally begin to let this go, though I've not reached a point of being able to forgive what these people did to the animals. I know I need to eventually arrive at that place, but it might take a very long time. It's something I need to do for my own well being, not theirs. I have to remember that forgiving someone for bad deeds, no matter how thoughtless or cruel, never means the deeds were acceptable. Granting forgiveness allows the one who has been hurt to move on and let her wounds begin to heal. From this day, I intend to let the Creator of all creatures great and small take care of these things I cannot control.
Cat Angel by artist Amy White
1 comment:
Hi Kady, what a great idea on this letter..who knows it might wake them up and see what they did and they may see it in a different light and never do this again might even come clean..either way you get closure and they also know you are still on to them...hopefully this will be the end of this...great letter...you are a better person than I...take care..:)
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