My cat Tiffy had a twin sister named Taffy. Before Taffy was a year old, she ran into the road and was hit by a car. That was when I still let my kids go outside. I wasn't smart enough to quit then, even though I grieved deeply over the loss of Taffy. That was in 1992. I still miss her--she was so sweet and loving. Anyway...

One Saturday morning several months ago I left the house to go to the office and saw this kitty on the deck. She didn't run from me like the neighbor's cats do, she stood there looking up at me and meowing. I reached down to pet her and felt her spine. She was nothing but skin and bones. That did it! I picked her up and carried her inside, where she promptly went to the food dishes and commenced gobbling up bits of leftover food. I didn't think about FIP, FelV or any of those things--I was too appalled by her starved condition to think of anything else. Later I did think about them, and worried all day Sunday (vet was closed) whether I had unwittingly exposed my other beautiful, healthy kitties to disease. Thank God she tested negative the next day. The vet wormed her, gave her shots, etc., and said there was nothing wrong with her besides malnutrition. Now for the coincidences.

She's a longhaired tortie like Tiffy, except that she's a dilute (grey) instead of black-based, and is very affectionate to both Tim and me, as Taffy was, so I named her Taffy--what else? Strangely, no other strays have come to our house in the ten years we've lived here. After bringing her home from the vet, I was thinking about her, glad she was well and all, and the word Lilac came into my mind. I thought it might be a nice name for the newbie, but I had already named her. But all my kids have middle names, so I thought Taffeena Lilac would be pretty. Then I remembered--we had buried the first Taffy under our Lilac tree. Could it be that Taffy has reincarnated and found her way back to us? Something to ponder.