A cat named Butters protected his Mom in her coma dreams against the man that used a piece of steel to crack open her head like a coconut. She used those words. He is a small cat. An old cat. Sadly the dream was real. So was the cracked head. And the coma. And the recovery of learning everything old as new again. But they both survived.

Ashamed. Sad. Angry. Broken physically and emotionally. But alive. With a cat that was the last thing she remembered before the coma. A cat that stayed with her fighting to protect her. Yet here she was, unable to afford the food to feed the cat that saved her life. And that’s when she found Pongo.

She lived in a place where she was trying to regain some semblance of normal. But she laughed and said there really was nothing normal about life anymore. Just a series of moments that made up each day. None were easy. But some were better than others.

But the best ones, she said, were the ones that she and Butters laughed about. Laughing with your cat. What could be better than that?

She asked me if I knew how bad she felt to not be able to afford cat food. Or litter? She said out loud to no one in particular, “I can’t even afford to buy him the litter so he can poop with dignity!” Then she laughed. I just stood there frozen. Fighting to not cry.

Because my tears were not what this victorious woman needed. She beat death. And now all she wanted was cat food.

But she had a story to tell. And God gave me two ears for that. And they were both listening.

The story did not contain a lot of words. But it was not a short story. It was the story of a lifetime. Only part of it was shared with me. But that was ok. Because I knew that Butters knew the rest. And it was safe with him.

This was not a “pity me” sort of conversation. It was more matter-of-fact. Here was a woman who had been left for dead but was now embarrassed that her cat was hungry. She held up her hands and made the shape of a small ball and said “he’s only this big and I don’t even have enough food to feed him right now” and then she let her hands fall back to her sides.

There were so many thoughts racing through my head right then. And thank goodness none of them made their way to my mouth. Because my words were not needed. Just being there was the most important thing.

What I really thought about was how brave this woman was to be talking to someone she did not know. But she did. She talked about other things too. Things she missed. Sweet things. Salty things. Simple things. Things the food stamps could not be wasted on.

She said thank you many times. Then she left with the cat food and the litter. The last thing she said was that she wanted to spoil her cat. But she said at least she had food and litter and she knew he would be ok with that.

Helping survivors of domestic violence is not uncommon for The Pongo Fund. One of the first days we were open brought us a woman with freshly blackened eyes and bruises. She said she was embarrassed to go out but she needed pet food. She smiled a little smile and said thank you as she left. But we knew even that little smile hurt her face.

Knowing we can help these women by helping their pets is our greatest reward. And next year we will expand our work to provide them even more help.

The next day I had a box delivered to where Butters Mom was staying. It was filled with sweet things. Salty things. And simple things.

The simple things were the easiest to get but the hardest to give. Truly simple things. Just the basics. The stuff that most of us throw out every day. Shampoo. Soap. Toothbrush and toothpaste. Toilet paper. Stuff like that.

There were some other things too. And some gift cards for more personal shopping. And for Butters a scratching post. A new collar with some good luck charms. Two different food bowls so he could have one for wet food and one for dry because she said he liked that.

There was one more thing inside that big box.

Another box overflowing with more cat toys than I could count that I hope she just turned upside down and let explode into a pile all over the floor. Because she wanted to spoil her cat. And now she could.

Christmas is one week from today. If you’d like to donate to help us, here are our secure donation links.

Paypal: https://www.thepongofund.org/contact/donation-page/ .

Give Guide: https://giveguide.org/#thepongofund

The Pongo Fund is a pet food bank. But we’re so much more. Being there for Butters and the Mom who loves him. Helping them both heal.

And this is why we Pongo.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. thepongofund.org

(Photo is not Butters; I did not meet him. But photo looks similar to the kitty she described)