Because no matter how small an act of
kindness or generosity or simple positivity you put out into the world, it will make a difference.
--Wonder Woman
Superheroes come in various forms. They all have the power to make the world a
better place by fighting injustice or crime or both. For a writing assignment in third grade, I
created the superhero, Measle Man. I
still have the story on lined paper, in pencil, complete with illustrations. Measle Man was cast out of his town because of
his red, dotted face. When a poor girl
found herself in trouble, Measle Man made everything right. In a world with increasingly
disturbing events, my own Measle Man, a veteran, swooped down to save the day on
two fronts. He helped my husband who had
fallen and found our frightened Frida.
Rich and
I left Folly Beach on a Monday morning, traveling for the first time with a
cat, Frida. I got suggestions from two
different friends who have years of experience traveling with cats. Both said they had no trouble letting the cat
roam free in the car. One suggested a
harness and leash for bringing the cat from the car to the hotel and back. At PetSmart I only found harnesses for dogs,
which do not fit cats proportionally, although later I found out that PetSmart
does sell harnesses for cats. The dog XXS
fit Frida’s neck but not her girth. The dog
XS fit her girth but not her neck, but I went with it. I bought an ID tag for the harness.
Day 1 of our odyssey passed with no encounters with monsters. Day 2, as we were unloading at the hotel
after a very long day of travel, Rich hit his foot on a concrete parking
barrier and fell. Seemingly out of
nowhere, my Measle Man, a young fellow, appeared and asked if he could
help. I asked him to help Rich up. He squatted, linked his arms under Rich’s,
and had Rich up before I could say Bob’s your uncle. In the process, another fellow appeared. I had Frida in my arms, restrained with
harness and leash. She got spooked and
jumped out of my arms. In only seconds,
she wriggled out of the harness and fled, leaving me with what looked like one
of those joke wire leashes leading to an invisible pet, except all deflated. We checked Rich. He suffered no significant injuries. Then, we turned out attention to Frida, the
cat on the lam.
Our Superhero took charge.
He instructed me to take Rich to the room and said he would look for
Frida. After walking with Rich to the
room, I went back out to help search.
Superhero found her after about five minutes, crouching between some
shrubs and the building. I squatted
towards her front. Superhero came up
behind her. She did not spook and let
him pick her up, so he became a Superhero Cat Whisperer. Since she was solidly in his arms, I asked
him to bring her to our room. On the
way, he showed me pictures on his phone of his cats. (Yes, he managed to keep Frida secure and
show me pictures.)
On the way, he told me that he is a veteran and that he was
living at the hotel with his two cats because his house blew up. As he entered our room, he left his shoes at
the door. We thanked him profusely and
offered him a reward of money or a meal or something. He thought very seriously and then turned us
down. He said his reward would be for us
to treat Frida well—no problem there!
The next morning, we put Frida in her carrier to bring her
to the car!
We thanked Super Cat Whisperer for his service to our
country and for finding Frida, and he put on his shoes and left. I am so very impressed and grateful at this
Veteran’s actions. He saw Rich go down
and responded instinctively. Then, he
found Frida. Evidently, his military
training and experience kicked right in.
He has served the United States well, both abroad and at home.
God Bless Super Cat Whisperer!
