Captain Miles Standish, The Cat Who Saved Baby Jesus

This is probably more of a cat-lovers blog post...or a Christmas story-type of blog post; but honestly, it's just too good of a true story not to blog about...so, pretend it's Christmastime, and enjoy!

I noticed him right away.

He sat in the lobby of WakeMed in a Carolina Blue polo shirt, looking for all the world like a Tarheel alum, but I was later to discover he was an NC State man. He followed Rin's every move as we crossed through the lobby in our usual path to exit the building at the end of our Friday evening shift.

"He wants to pet Rin" I thought as I felt him staring at Rin and saw him smiling broadly. It was the end of our shift, and had been a long week. I was feeling a bit fatigued and I was looking forward to getting home to snuggle with Rin and to binge watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians or The Big Bang Theory. But, I made a big U-turn to take Rin over to see the smiling man in the Carolina Blue polo shirt.

He was waiting to pick up his wife after her shift as a WakeMed RN. "How sweet", I thought, as it was such a quaint notion that a man would leave home to pick up his wife and to bring her home. I didn't think that husbands did that for their wives anymore... I sat down next to him and we talked for some time. His name was Bob...Bob Stevens, he said. His wife was called Ellen.

I asked him if he had a dog at home; he said he had a cat. A Maine Coon cat. Now, a Maine Coon cat is a BIG cat...you might as well have a Bob Cat roaming around your house; but they are a very popular breed of cat among cat lovers. Bob said that his wife had grown up with German Shepherds, which made me like her right away - before I even met her. But that he felt that their lives were too busy for a dog...so someone suggested they get a cat. Bob said a family member found a Maine Coon cat called Miles, Captain Miles Standish. Bob thought, "No...no, no, no, no...we're too busy for a pet." And he wondered what to do about his inner emotional conflict.

Now, as Bob tells it; this cat found his way to the Steven's household around Christmastime, when the family would gather around their Nativity which, sadly, was incomplete, as it was missing it's Baby Jesus figurine, which Bob said they had lost a long time ago and just could not seem to find, no matter how hard they looked for it. So, soon after Miles had joined their family, one night, as the family gathered around the Nativity to pray and to be thankful for the joys of Christmastime, they lamented their missing Baby Jesus figurine. After all, how is a Nativity complete without the Baby Jesus...?

During this time of family gathering, and lost in thought, Bob noticed that Miles was missing. He didn't think much of it, as he was lost in his thoughts of family, faith and gratitude, but still wondering, where was the Baby Jesus figurine...?. Suddenly, in a flash, Miles ran into the room carrying something in his mouth. Miles wove his way through the family members, and made himself a place at the creche - the cradle - of Baby Jesus, where Mary and Joseph were were looking down on an empty cradle. Bob said to me, "Miles opened his mouth and 'PLOP'', dropped something into the empty cradle and I thought, 'oh dear, what could THAT be?'" My attention was riveted to Bob's story and I thought...'please tell me it wasn't a dead mouse!' Then Bob continued, "...and do you know that Miles dropped our Baby Jesus figurine right into the cradle of the Nativity...? Right INTO THE CRADLE!!" My mouth fell open. Not only did Miles come into a home where there was some question about adopting a cat, but he went and found the Steven's missing Baby Jesus figurine and replaced it right where it was meant to go!!

Bob said, "Well, as you can imagine, that just took our breath away! We all agreed that this was a remarkable cat, and was sent by Providence to save our Baby Jesus...so, how could we not keep him after that...??!"

And, so that is the story of Captain Miles Standish, the Cat Who Saved Baby Jesus.

As Bob was finishing his story, his wife Ellen approached through the courtyard. She was exhausted after her shift, but had a chirpy brightness about her..."Oh my goodness!" she said "I grew up with German Shepherds...! They're such a wonderful family pet! But, Bob, did you tell her about Miles, the Cat Who Saved Baby Jesus?" I laughed and said, "Yes! he's told me all about Miles, and now I'm going to blog about this wonderful story, one which you simply cannot make up!"

So, this blog post has very little of Rin's adventures in it, but the truth is; if I had not been a WakeMed volunteer Therapy Dog Handler, I would not have met Bob and Ellen Stevens and would never have heard the story of the Cat who Saved Baby Jesus. These kinds of moments only happen when you serve as a volunteer in your community...

And we didn't miss any of our Big Bang Theory episodes, and Rin and I had plenty of snuggle time that night...it was like Christmastime in July...!