.... no matter how long your
ears are, or how many legs you have ....
all of us at Rikki’s Refuge wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day .... none of us would be here with out YOU moms
!!!!
If you’d like to make a
special donation in honor of your very own Mom, regardless of her species, I’ll
include your note to her in the next issue of Good Morning Good News and if you
give me her email I’ll send her a personal note too !!!! www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate -- just put your request in the comments !!!
I want to wish a very Happy Merow’s Day to my Tummy
Mummy, Nelly
with out her, I would be here !!! Thank you mom !!!
And to my adoptive Mummy, Polly
who raised me with her partner Vincent to learn to be
a Spokes Kitty, and who taught me to devote my life to helping others less
fortunate than me.
And to my Maternal Grandmother, Lesley
who put up with Polly’s long absences from home when
Vincent picked her up on his corporate jet to spend time with me and Timmy at
Rikki’s Refuge.
And to my Paternal Grandmother, Kerry
with out her, there’d be no Rikki’s Refuge and none
of us would have a home.
And to my Auntie Amy
who, even though she says she’s a dog lady, loves me
lots and takes care of all of us at Rikki’s Refuge.
And to my Great Grandma, Louise,
who’s at the Rainbow Bridge looking after my dad,
Vincent
who taught her daughter,
Kerry, to love the animals and that she could grow up to do anything she wanted
to and who encouraged her dreams of 100 cats and 100 acres ...... until it grew to 650 cats and 450 acres.
My Great Grandma loved all
the animals too and was always surrounded by them.
And did you know, that
without her, there never would have been a Rikki’s Refuge? Rikki was her kitty. And she donated the land to build Rikki’s
Refuge in his honor to give back the love to many homeless animals, that Rikki
had given to her.
Rikki, born Jan.
13, 1981, was a new breed - a Balinese, a Siamese mutation, same body shape,
grace & disposition, but with silky long hair. My daughter gave Rikki to me
in April 1981. He was greeted by our 11 year old Siamese, who let Rikki know,
“I’m top cat.” Rikki, who was always happy, was satisfied to be “bottom cat”.
The only thing
Rikki ever regretted was not having wings! He would climb the drapes, walk
across the valence and look for something high to jump to, like the top of the
china cabinet. He darted this way and that in perpetual motion. My husband
said, “He darts around like a mongoose”. So Rikki was named after Rudyard
Kipling’s Indian mongoose story, “Rikki Tikki Tavi”.
Rikki was 4
years old when the Siamese cat died at the age of 15. Rikki was lost. Who could
he follow around? Rikki needed a companion cat. My husband suggested a kitten -
so “Rikki could be boss for once.” When the kitten cried for its mother, Rikki
laid down and the kitten suckled Rikki’s paw while Rikki washed him. Although
Rikki was a bachelor, the kitten could not have had a better mother. The kitten
grew up to be “top cat”.
Rikki would get
up on my knick-knack shelves, and with a graceful paw movement would push a cat
statue off, then lean over and watch it fall to the floor. This was great fun
and Rikki would stop only temporarily when I said, “NO NO”. Rikki always hated
water far more than the typical cat. One day while playing this game, I wet my
fingers and tiptoed near enough to flip my fingers so a few drops of water hit
him. He never played that game again!
My children
grown and gone, my husband’s business keeping him out of town, Rikki was my
loving, loyal, joyful companion. With me almost always - he slept with me, sat
on my lap if I read or sewed, rode on my shoulder out to get the mail. Rikki
never did a mean thing to a person or another cat. He was all softness and
love. All he ever wanted in life was to be hugged and loved.
Rikki died in my
arms in September, 1996 of kidney failure. He had become like a toddler in his
illness - never letting me out of his sight. My grandson said, “Rikki was all
love without a mean bone in his body.”
I still grieve
for him, crying as I write this. What could be a more fitting memorial for
Rikki, always so full of kindness & love, than to give comfort & love
to homeless and unwanted animals. So I donate this land for Rikki’s Refuge as a
perpetual memorial to Rikki for the love and happiness he gave me for 15 years.
And so others, less fortunate than Rikki, may know love in their lifetimes. I
know Rikki would approve.
Rikki’s Refuge’s Benefactor, Louise
A. Hilliard (written in 1998)
Tell me about your Mom, what made her special?
If you’d like to make a
special donation in honor of your very own Mom, regardless of her species, I’ll
include your note about her unique specialness in the next issue of Good
Morning Good News and if you give me her email I’ll send her a personal note
too !!!! www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate -- just put your request in the comments !!!
Please
VOTE today and EVERYDAY!!
Your vote today, will help
to feed all the mom’s here at Rikki’s Refuge !!!! Of course everyone is speutered and no reproduction is allowed
at Rikki’s Refuge. Many of our residents
come to us already with child.
Sometimes it’s a surprise.
Sometimes their kids are born and they’ll have the privilege of living
together as a family all their lives.
The Shelter Challenge is a
wonderful opportunity to help the animals with only a few clicks !!!! Totally FREE and EASY and QUICK .... turn your clicks into meds to prevent ticks
!!!!
and
enter Rikkis Refuge (no ‘ ... see ??)
in VA in the USA and that’s it !! Thank you
NUMS for
YOU
you share with me, and I’ll share with you
try this wonderful vegan recipe today
MOTHER’S
DAY SPECIAL
WOW Mother's Day special at
Re-Tail .... check it out !!!! The best place to take mom on Mother's Day ....
give her a gift certificate and watch her shop for fabulous deals .... what's
she like? Jewelry? Hats? Antiques? Art work? We have it ALL and every last
piece is at a fabulous price !!!
Sunday is Mother's Day at
Re-Tail! The Orange County Emergency Vet Fund will be holding a yard sale and a
bake sale at the store (and maybe dog adoptions!) starting at 10:00 a.m.! We'll
open the store at 10:00, too, so that you can get your Re-Tail Therapy in on Mother's
Day!!!!
New and wonderful things are
coming into Re-Tail every day ..... if you don’t check in daily, you could miss
the deal of a lifetime. Last weekend
two very expensive and very lovely litterbox hiding furniture pieces came
in. Lovely “look like cabinet” with
litterboxes hidden inside. The next day
someone came in saying she’d been searching all the thrift shops for just these
litterbox concelers that she could afford.
And YES, she sure could afford the low-low price at Re-Tail .
Look who came in yesterday
!!!! And he’s available today. Your mom a Pooh lover ???
Raffle
tickets are on sale now!!!!
This is a 2009 Honda Rebel
CX250, and has 3540 miles on it. Tickets are $5 each or 6 for $25. The drawing
will be held at noon on July 4, 2014. Watch it in action!
Pop a Wheelie, Dude, Pop a
Wheelie ..... this motorcycle could be YOURS for $5 .... you heard me right ...
that's the price of a raffle ticket ..... available at Re-Tail
Do you have a cool Mom who’d
like to ride a bike? Buy her tickets
for her special day !!!
Tickets can be purchased at
Re-Tail, by phone if you call Re-Tail with credit/debit card information, or by
mail sent to Re-Tail. Raffle tickets
cannot be sold they payments on paypal. Sorry .... We’re looking
into other on-line options.
Winner will have to pick
bike up at Re-Tail ...... sorry, we
can’t ship !!!!!
Just like
Moms !!!
Thank you
for your love and prayers,
my Great Grandpa is home from the hospital and doing well !!!! Paws crossed for a continued healing.
Hey Walker, I can't find your brofur Wally on facebook .... would
you pass a message on to him for me? Hi ya Wally, hope things are going well in
your new home! I want to thank you for mom's birthday present. That's her
favorite tea you know. She'd just run out and was starting to get fussy in the
morning !!! Thank you !!! She loves opening cans while she has that first cup
of pomegranate white tea !!!! And being the nut case that she is, she loves
nuts too !!!! Thank you !!! Love, Opie
Mother's Day Special $17.99 exclusively from Rikki's
Refuge ....
many color selections available ....
THANK YOU
FOR HELPING ME TO
SAVE SO
MANY LIVES
... with your support we’re
able to help so many into their new furrever happy homes .... and to give that life long home to those not
quite so fortunate ... Thank you for your
support
Without YOU none of us would
be here to wish you a Happy Mother's Day !!
Make a special donation in
honor of your very own Mom, or one you admire: www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate I’ll include your note about her in the next
issue of Good Morning Good News and if you give me her email I’ll send her a
personal note too !!!! Or make a
donation in honor of my Grandma so she’ll be happy and smiley and open another
can of Fancy Feast for us !! Be sure to
put your request in the comments !!!
Love,
Opie and Timmy
