Macha
Watercolor on paper, February 2017
I was honored to have been chosen by Macha at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society, back in 2008. She hooked her claws into my jean leg as I passed her kennel and her sweet face, voice, and purrs opened my heart when I thought nothing could. When I would tell people she was a rescue, they’d exclaim that I saved her… but she gave me something to care for when I hadn’t learned to care for myself, someone to laugh with and cuddle when things seemed pretty dark, and taught me to love selflessly. I was brave for her when I didn’t yet know to be brave for myself, too.
Her loss in June 2018 to cancer and kidney disease broke my heart in a way I hadn’t experienced at the time, and to be honest I am sure I will never be over her absence and her sudden departure. But I can shout from any rooftop that I am so blessed she picked me to be her human. She saved me way more than I saved her.