One September day, I volunteered at the Massachusetts animal shelter. My heart sank as I heard a slight meow from an abandoned cat carrier by the door. I opened it and took the cat in my arms. Immediately, she buried her face into my arms, her skinny body shaking, but she didn’t escape as if she knew I was there to help.

The doctor estimated her age to be about six. Although weak and underweight, she could return to normal with care. Unfortunately, she tested positive for feline leukemia(猫白血病), which is infectious with only a bite, without cure. Though infected cats can also live normal, happy lives, the doctor regretfully announced she was “unfit for groups”. The only choice was for a volunteer to adopt her.

Already having four cats, I had determined not to put them through the stress of learning to live with a new member. Plus, I had agreed with my husband that we had reached the animal limit. Nevertheless, I took her home anyway and quarantined(隔离) her in a spare room.

The first few nights were difficult. I spent as much time as I could with her. Gradually, she seemed to accept her fate and waited every morning for me. Her appetite returned and soon she looked quite health y again. Before long, this cat began walking around the room as if she owned it — like a little princess, so “Princess” she was named.

Nine long months passed. While I tried to find her a home where she could be the only cat, it was fruitless and we finally accepted her presence.

Summer arrived. Every year, one shelter volunteer hosts a party. It was my turn that year. About thirty volunteers and their guests enjoyed barbecuing and sharing animal stories. Everyone wanted to see “the cat in the room”, so Princess received more than her share of attention. Jody, the Sunday morning volunteer, arrived and introduced her fiancé, Eric. We chatted for a while. Eric mentioned he once lost a cat named Queen, and was also quite interested in Princess.

I was totally unprepared for what happened next.

It turned out that Princess — I mean Queen — was lost when Eric was moving here.

My husband Ralph and I were living in a house in Staten Island in a lovely country-lane area where we enjoyed taking walks. One evening, as we were passing the gardens of an ancient church, I saw a gray cat being followed by a tiny black-and-white kitten (小猫). As I looked at them, the kitten stopped and stared at me with large golden eyes.

About a month later, I ‘saw the kitten again. As I was passing a neighbor’s doorway, it sleepily lifted its head out of a large flowerpot. Clearly, this was where it slept every night, and I told Ralph about it when I got home.

From then on, whenever Ralph and I passed that house, we saw the tiny creature sitting in the flowerpot or sunbathing happily on the front steps.

One morning, I met Jim, the owner of the house, and asked about the kitten and why it seemed to be living in the flowerpot. He told me, “His name is Oreo, and he’s the only one not adopted from a local feral (流浪的) cats’ litter that I rescued.”

“But why does he have to sleep in a flowerpot?” I asked.

“We tried taking him into the house, but my wife and I already have three very large older cats, and they were not nice to him.”

That was the moment when I decided that perhaps Oreo would be a happy addition to our lives. So, the next time Ralph and I were walking by Oreo’s home, I called to him. “Oreo! Hey, Oreo!” His head popped up from the flowerpot. Ralph was charmed, and he joined my chorus and called, “Oreo! Hey, Oreo!” To our delight, the little cat hurried down from the doorway to greet us. However, as he limped (跛行) down the steps, I noticed for the first time that he had a missing back leg.

Jim explained, “He was born that way. That’s why nobody would adopt him. All the other kittens were taken right away. I kept the little guy because I didn’t care about his missing leg.”

Mike still remember his first Christmas experience with Grandma when he was eight. On the way to Grandma’s, Mike’s big sister whispered, "There is no Santa Claus, even dummies   (傻瓜) know that! ""Really? "Mike thought to himself and rushed to Grandma’s.

“No Santa Claus?” Grandma snorted (轻哼). “Unbelievable! That rumor (谣言) has been going around for years, and it makes me mad. Now, put on your coat, and let’s go somewhere.”

“Somewhere” turned out to be a store that had everything. As they walked through its doors, Grandma handed Mike a ten-dollar bill, which was big money then. "Take it and buy something for someone in need.”

Never had little Mike shopped for anything all by himself. For a while, he just stood there with the ten-dollar bill in his hand, wondering what to buy and who to buy it for. He was about to give up when Bobbie’s shining eyes flashed across his mind. Bobbie was a kid with an old coat and messy hair, sitting right behind Mike in class. They once walked past a doll (玩偶) shop after school. Bobbie said excitedly at the sight of a teddy bear in the shop window, “If I had one of my own, I would hug it while sleeping…”

That’s it! Mike held the ten-dollar bill tightly with growing excitement, and ran to the shelf. With Grandma’s help, he carefully wrapped the present in Christmas paper, with a card saying “To Bobbie, Wish You A Merry Christmas! From Santa Claus”.

Then Grandma drove Mike over to Bobbie’s house. Grandma said that Santa always sent Christmas gifts secretly, so they crept (爬行) noiselessly and hid in the garden nearby. Then Grandma patted Mike on the shoulder. “All right, Santa Claus, get going.”

Mike took a deep breath and rushed to the front door of Bobbie’s house,

Through tearful eyes, Bobbie recognized the handwriting on the card.