Dear Donors of Frankie's Friends,
I am writing to express my deepest and most sincere gratitude for saving my cat Raja's life. Even these words cannot adequately describe how grateful I am to you. Raja needed PU surgery after repeated attempts to unblock him with a catheter failed. As a single public school teacher, the surgery required was more than I could afford and I had already used the maximum allowance of my Care Credit card. I was devastated when the doctors said if Raja didn't have the surgery, I may have to put him to sleep. Sobbing and unable to accept what they were saying, I begged the doctors to help me. I refused to believe that this was the only answer. Later in the evening they called and told me about Frankie's Friends. This is when I realized the miracle I had been praying for was manifesting. My cat was not going to die-he was going to live!
Nataraja is the manifestation of Shiva, the Cosmic Dancer, in Hinduism. I am a yoga teacher and practitioner, and Raja was literally delivered to me by a rescue worker from WAHI Cats who had help trap a feral colony in Fort Tyron Park in Manhattan. Unfortunately, they couldn't find homes for all the cats and had to return them, "but there's this one we can't send back. He's just too special. I know you were looking for an orange cat...do you want him?" I immediately said yes, even before meeting this "special cat" who seemed destined to be mine. When Erika brought him to my apartment in Brooklyn, she told me his name was Jameson, but I immediately noticed his huge, elegant paws, which he loved to leisurely and luxuriously extend and stretch like a graceful dancer. This cat reminded me of Shiva Nataraj, the one who dances on his demons through the cycle of life. I renamed Jameson, Nataraja, for he had certainly danced his way over obstacles to make his way into my Brooklyn apartment. I call him Raja for short, and he is my Heart.
He has just danced upon one more "demon," but only with the merciful help of Frankie's Friends. Thank you so much. I am in tears as I compose this email...
