One afternoon, shortly after moving into the house that serves as the domicile for The Grand Goddess, LuAnn walked up the stairs to the deck to enter the building. Lying in a rectangular flower box was a calico cat that appeared to be dead. She neared the cat and called, "Kitty, kitty," but it made no response and lay perfectly still. Frightened and saddened, LuAnn reached out to touch her and the cat barely lifted her head and made a tiny, little grunt.

When LuAnn reached down to pick up the fragile animal, she realized the kitten was covered in feces. Her dirty, matted multi-colored fur stretched over a long body which seemed to be nothing by feet and bones extending to the longest cat tail known to womankind. The kitty was as light as air, and put up no resistance as her rescuer rushed her to the car. En route LuAnn called the vet's office to see if they would wait for her to arrive with the calico and determine if she could be saved. Though she is known to be a healer of the hopeless, LuAnn was not optimistic about the future of this kitty.

Dr. Weber stayed until LuAnn and the emergency patient arrived. And, when she presented the cat to the technician, LuAnn asked that they simply check her out to determine what was wrong. When the veterinary technician asked her name, LuAnn said "Ms. Kitty" in an effort to distance herself from the almost certain impending doom of the little one.

The phone call from the vet's office the next day brought unexpected news. The vet reported that "Ms. Kitty" was disease-free and it appeared that she could be nursed back to health over time. LuAnn asked them to give "Ms. Kitty" the necessary immunizations, and made arrangements to pick her up later that day. The small cat still looked very unkempt and she had been shaved in some places, treated for eat mites and vaccinated. Every bone in her very large frame was visible. Her seemingly huge feet and extra long, bushy tail indicated just how starved she really was, as if the news that she was probably less than six months old and weighed five-and-a-half pounds did not confirm this fact.

LuAnn took the helpless little bundle home, made a place for her in the back bedroom with her own private facilities and hoped for the best. Over the next few days, "Ms. Kitty" seemed to eat non-stop. Not very friendly at first, in time she welcomed the visits from her captor and draped her long, bony frame over LuAnn's lap welcoming the attention. "Ms. Kitty" could barely hold up her tummy when it was full because she was so weak.

After a couple of weeks, LuAnn noticed that "Ms. Kitty's" teets were becoming engorged, and that her quickly growing tummy was the only part of her that seemed to be filling out. Alarmed by this, she began to watch more closely and recognized other signs that Ms. Kitty was about to become a mom! Another emergency was unfolding. LuAnn called the spay and neuter clinic for an emergency appointment, warning that the small cat may be pregnant and not strong enough to give birth.

Two days later "Ms. Kitty" was spayed and had indeed been pregnant. This action turned out to be life-saving for the small cat because she was definitely not strong enough to birth kittens. LuAnn took her back home to her private room where she began the healing process again. Some of the less pleasant aspects of her personality disappeared after she was spayed and her disposition improved 100%. To say she had been irritable previously would be an understatement, but given the circumstances, most of us would have been the same.

Eventually she became stronger and wanted to join the rest of the menagerie in the household, which included two very large dogs and three other cats. "Ms. Kitty" adapted to the dogs nicely, but did not like the smallest female cat, Wennie (3 years old, but the youngest). Although two of the cats ignored "Ms. Kitty," Wennie and "Ms. Kitty" could not be near each other without a major catfight ensuing.

Soon, the patient was allowed to go outside for short periods and she usually stayed near the porch and came inside when called. Poor Wennie had stopped coming inside except in the night when "Ms. Kitty" was secured in her private room. LuAnn spent a lot of time calling for Wennie, often missing several days at a time and when she was found, Wennie would be brought inside.

One day LuAnn happened to be looking outside and saw the real reason for Wennie's reluctance to come home. "Ms. Kitty" was chasing Wennie three houses down and literally preventing Wennie from coming home! It was clear that LuAnn could not allow her kitty of three years to be scared away by the new upstart. She packed "Ms. Kitty" up and took her to The Grand Goddess to stay until she could decide what to do.

That was April. And, six months later, she was still there. LuAnn put out a call for an adoption; but, when she told the story of the cat's rescue, she just couldn't let her go. It seemed that "Ms. Kitty" had become a role model for those in need of a nurturing, safe place. And, thus, "Miss Kitty," a boney, bag of fur with a lot of attitude became "GG, the grand goddess."

GG has many friends who love her and she has become a strong, healthy, well-kempt cat with lots of personality. Many women, also facing difficulties, have been inspired by GG's turn-around story. At times she has had a very soothing affect on the women who visit us. Other times, she wants to be left alone, as we all do occasionally. GG has much to teach all of us.

We are creating a list of lessons learned from GG, the grandest goddess of The Grand Goddess. Stay tuned for those!