#SophieTheCat

We added an addition on to our house the year our daughter was married. The addition included a nice open roomy family room with a dining area at the end where the kitchen was and a connected garage off the kitchen. There was sliding patio doors leading onto a deck and a fireplace opposite the doors. The fireplace was a Heat-a-later brand firebox with vents and fans to circulate the hot air. Outside the fireplace was enclosed with siding, but beneath the box was a sheet of plywood. The base of the bump-out was about 12 inches off the ground and it snows a lot in Wisconsin and drifts get very large and tall.

Thirty-four years after the addition something very strange happened to me one November morning as I walked into the kitchen to make coffee. There was a cat standing in my kitchen and we did not own a cat. She looked up to me with a 'we're friends, aren't we' kind of look and gently walked past my feet with just a touch of her tail gliding past my ankle. I was shocked to say the least and the first thing I did was to go a check the patio doors to see if my son had left them cracked open. Nope, all was snug and tight and I could not explain the cat being in my kitchen.

I took it to the front door and set it on the deck and locked the door. The next morning I went to make coffee and there this cat was again, standing on my kitchen floor. I was stymied. Once again, I took it to the front door and placed it on the deck and locked the door. Then I went through the house checking for openings and down to the basement where the addition had only a crawl space and an opening of about 2 feet by 3 ft in order to have access under that part of the house.

That opening was the only explanation I could come up with, but how did the cat get under the family room? Next step, investigate the perimeter of the house. No openings to be found until I got on my hands and knees and peeked under the fireplace. Aha! The plywood had rotted enough around the edges where a persistent little cat who was not going to endure a Wisconsin winter did everything
she could to make a way for her to get into a nice warm house.

She did make it back in the third time before I could get the repairs done and I decided that she deserved to be adopted. Her name is Sophia because of the wisdom she displayed. That has been almost four years ago and what a delight she is and how thankful I am that she came into my life.