“ Whoever you are, I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers,” Blanche Dubois in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire
Today, your Imagine Home Admins are grateful for the lessons taught us by a pair of cats and their forever mother. The lessons are many, and their combined journey is very long, but all the more to teach us the very lessons we need. Shoes and Socks have a forever mom, Sadaf. She had always dreamed of travelling the continent of Africa. This year, she got that exciting opportunity. Sadaf did everything possible to prepare her boys for her absence. A wonderful friend was found to foster them in New York City, and Sadaf flew off for her journey, knowing that her two boys were in safe and loving hands. 
- Meet the boys!
In March, a few months into her epic journey, Sadaf’s friend and former roommate got some devastating news. She had, like many of us in today’s tough economy, lost her job, and would soon be losing her housing. Shoes and Socks would need to find a new foster parent. It wasn’t a matter of not loving the boys, it was a matter of downsizing, because she would be living with her parents for an indefinite amount of time. Sadaf was torn. Yes, she was worried sick about her boys, and was ready to come back home. But she also knew that the chances of returning to her trip were slim, if she got sucked back into her everyday life.
Then she heard about transport groups on Facebook. The first group turned her down, because the boys were not going to a forever home. Then she heard about us. We were still a tiny group, and only 6 months old. It was an audacious request. What’s that? I didn’t tell you where Shoes and Socks were going? Listen to this: New York City to St. Paul, Minnesota! When Kelly Pusskitty, our Transport Director saw the request, her fingers started to hover over the letters: “N” and “O!” But she hesitated. The only thing holding us back from approving the request was distance. And we’ve seen crazier things happen in less time. And then there were the cats. Kelly can very seldom say no to cats in need. So of course Kelly said yes, or I would obviously not be writing about the journey.
Before Shoes and Socks could wend their way across the United States, Sadaf posted this on our event: “I was worried watching my boys go away from across the world. I kept away from this page so I wouldn’t obsess. Having read the love that is pouring off this page, while I will still worry, I realize I’ve put them in the best possible hands. Words can’t express my gratitude to everyone who is making this possible. Shoes and Socks, I love you guys and wish you a safe journey with all your new friends. You will be at your new home soon. “
The boys journeyed to Minnesota, in April, a little less than one month after we received the request. It was no big deal, really. Eleven transporters, with the fosters from each end taking 2 legs, one overnight hostess, and lots of excitement in between! Check out their event here, with many more pictures: https://www.facebook.com/events/426736260751208/
Once they were safely settled in their foster’s home in Minnesota, Shoes and Socks took some time to adjust to their new surroundings. They had traveled with quite a bit of loot from their old home, including a beloved kitty condo.
This still isn’t quite the end of our tale. Sadaf stayed in touch with Kelly Pusskitty, and had asked her several times about a way to express gratitude for getting Shoes and Socks to their new foster home. And then it struck her. Sadaf paid it forward, and it touched our hearts more than anything she could have offered. Sadaf had toured the David Sheldrick Wildlife Orphanage, and was especially touched by the plight of the orphaned baby elephants.
Here’s what came of that visit: (June 2013)
What a wonderful gift, the gift of life. Safety, sanctuary, security and hope. These are but a few of the things that we provide through our volunteer work here. And before you get the idea that I speak only of the admins of Imagine Home, let me assure you that we well know that we could do nothing without the support, efforts and dedication of all of you. And yes, it does sometimes seem that we fight losing battles, spit in the wind, and put out infernos with thimbles of water. But you know what? It works. What we ALL do is so very important. Did any of us ever think that volunteering our time and resources would make a difference on the other side of the world? Did any of us ever dream that our love and respect for the lives of the voiceless would echo all the way to Kenya? Well, it has. It has been almost 2 months to the day that Shoes and Socks made their way across 6 states to be with the very special foster they now reside with. And in that 2 months, their forever Mom, Sadaf, has been fulfilling a life long dream and trying to find a way to say “Thank you”. We received this email from her and I share it in it’s entirety. This, Imagine Home, is what it’s about. This belongs to us all. ~Kelly
[From Sadaf, currently in Kenya] Hello Imagine Home, It’s been nearly two months now that my boys Shoes and Socks went from their temporary home while I looked for a foster to their foster home. They are doing so well – playing, snoozing, snuggling and basically being the happy, healthy kitties I left behind. I am so grateful to Imagine Home, to all the transporters and admins who said “Yes” to my request to get Shoes and Socks to a better home while I was out doing something I loved. I had been ready to make the decision to come home and resettle them myself until a friend pointed me to the wonderful community that exists. It wasn’t an easy decision for me to make, but for my boys, it seems to have been the right one. When I see the photos that Kayla posts, and see Shoes and Socks looking so well, I can’t help but be so grateful to everyone who made it happen. Their new foster mom has a large part to play in their happiness, but they wouldn’t be there now without Imagine Home volunteers making it happen for them. I thought long about how I wanted to say thank you. I truly believe that deeds are better than words, and the love that Imagine Home volunteers have for the creatures in this world who can’t speak for themselves is so obvious that I decided a thank you needed to be done in kind. In my travels I had a chance to visit the David Sheldrick Trust, an organization that takes care of elephants that are orphaned in the wild with a view to returning them to the wild when they are old enough. They have had lots of success in their efforts so far. I was lucky enough to see the baby elephants play around, and was touched enough to want to foster a couple of the babies. Then the thought got lost in everything else. Kayla sent some photos of Shoes and Socks to me recently, and put some more on Facebook. As I’ve said already, every time I see recent photos of my boys I can’t help but be grateful for how well they are doing, and that they are looking healthy and happy. And this morning I finally finished signing up to foster two little baby elephants, representing my two boys, in the name of the Imagine Home volunteers who helped with the Shoes and Socks transport. Since I only had Sanober and Kayla’s addresses, they will get the actual information. But everyone can read about Bomani and Barsilinga, the two babies who will benefit from the donation. Their stories and their photographs can be found at https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphan_profile.asp?N=270 for Barsilinga and https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphan_profile.asp?N=273 for Bomani.
Thank you Imagine Home! 
- Bomani!
~ And today:
So, that happened. That, and the knowledge that we made two boys comfortable until their mom gets home, all of that fills our hearts with joy. And gratitude. And the lessons that I spoke of earlier? They were the lessons that even cats not going to a forever home are still worthy of love, the lesson that life can still be lived fully if one makes proper plans for care of their animals, and the lesson that animals worldwide need our love, protection and help. ~noelle~
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