My little cat girl

I like to volunteer when I can.  When one of my grandsons was in kindergarten I volunteered as a reading buddy through our local RSVP program.  I was very excited because I believe with all my heart that if a child can read he or she can do or become anything. 

I began the year with two adorable children who were also in kindergarten.  I had a girl and a boy.  The boy was a chipper, eager little fellow; he began the year not speaking any English but was so quick to learn.  He would get so excited to see me it was all he could do not to run down the hall to greet me (running is not allowed in school).  He was an amazingly fast learner.  That young man will go far!  His favorite books were pretty much any, he just loved to learn new words, he did his best to read and learn.  I would read to him and he would repeat every word while pointing to each word on the page.  He was such an amazing little guy.

The little girl on the other hand did speak English and seemed to read really well.  She, too, would get so excited when she saw me.  She would avoid running down the hall by skipping.  She would come up and hold my hand.  She asked if I had children and grandchildren, I answered that yes I did I told her all about my family.  After she learned that my grands call me “Grammy” she asked if she too could call me Grammy.  I didn’t think my grands would be offended so I agreed.  This sweet little child was beautiful inside and out but she was poorly kept.  Her clothes were barely sufficient and certainly stunk.  At first when we met together I would nearly gag from the stench.  I grew used to it as time went on and never thought about it after the first couple of meetings.  She spoke often of her love for cats.  I would read books about cats to/with her nearly every week.  I brought some from home and others from the city library about cats.  She spoke often about her cats at home.  Apparently she had a number of cats that lived inside and outside her home.  She spoke of them individually as if each were human.  She loved them!

One day when I came for reading time she came happily skipping down the hall as usual but looked like she was sad somehow.  When we got into the school library and sat down I asked if everything was ok, she replied that one of her cats had died.  She named the one that died and I said, “oh no, what happened” thinking that perhaps it had been run over.  It was one of her favorites according to her but I have to say it seemed that they were all her favorites.  She began to explain what happened to her cat; she started by telling me how she had been bad, she had done something that upset her father.  Now, my mind thought, what does this have to do with what I asked but I waited knowing that sometimes children that age can wonder when they explain things.  Unfortunately her explanation was exact.  After she explained what she had done she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “My father drowned my cat because I was bad.”  Lord have mercy on this child’s soul, did she just say what I thought she said?  I asked for clarification to be sure.  Her reply was that her father often drown cats when she was bad so she had to be good so the cats wouldn’t die.  I nearly fainted from pain for this child.  This was horrible mental abuse.  I told her I was sorry to hear that her cat had died and let it go.  I wasn’t really sure what to say after that.  Trust me when I say it was very hard to concentrate after that revelation. 

I recalled that when I started, at orientation the volunteers were told that every year there were at least two children who would be found to be abused.  I never thought one of them would be my buddy.  I let the school councilor know after meeting with both of my kids.  She took note and asked that I tell no one.   It seemed that our reading sessions continued along with no other issue.

Christmas break was coming and I asked the school and RSVP if I were allowed to get gifts for my reading buddies; thankfully that was just fine.  For my little guy that was doing so well I bought the typical boy toys and books, for my girl I bought hello kitty socks, undies, shampoo, toothpaste, tooth brush, books and a plush kitty.  Naturally being me I got my dates mixed up and thought it was the last time I would see the kids before Christmas break so I took the gifts to the kids a week early.  They loved their gifts and the girl couldn’t wait to share with her siblings.  I was happy to do this small thing for this child.  As the week progressed I realized I had one more buddy meeting before Christmas so I went to school at the assigned time.  The boy came quickly to me as normal but the girl had such a broken hearted look on her face and I thought, “oh no, he’s drown another kitten”, but that was not the case.

Both children had taken their gift bags home, both with the intention of sharing.  When my sweet little girlie got to her house and showed her father her gifts I had given her, he immediately threw them all in the trash.  She was not allowed to have any of them because the other children did not have gift bags.  She was broken hearted and her father railed at her although he did not drown a kitten.  The end result was he decided they would be moving away from our city over the Christmas holidays.  The precious child thanked me for the gifts and apologized that her father had thrown them away, she told me how much she would miss me and I must admit it broke my heart. 

When our scheduled time was up I again went to the school councilor and told her what had happened.  She told me she knew the family had serious problems, other reports had come in and this was not good news.  I felt terrible because I felt like the gifts sent the father over the edge,  the councilor assured me that this would have happened no matter what and that they would do their best to get someone out to the home to investigate before they moved.   I don’t know what the end result was as my Crohns made me unable to volunteer the second semester but I think of the child often hoping and praying she is alright, that she lives up to her  potential even though her father wishes otherwise.   

This encounter changed me, I think for the better.  We never know who needs us or even how they need us but we really need to keep our hearts and lives open.