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Stop and think of the little things in your life.

Sometimes the things that seem so small and that go overlooked in your day to day activity end up being some of the most beautiful, foundational, or the most important things in your life. So often we take the little things for granted; there seems to be much bigger, more important or worthier things that occupy our time.

Over the past couple of weeks I have learned to cherish the little things that happen in my life from what happened beneath the stairs of my apartment complex unit.

One thing I like the most about being in my new complex is that the area is not dominated by snobbish or partying college students. There are people from all walks of life that inhabit the apartments next to mine. There are children, there is noise and people go about doing their thing out of necessity. There are also animals. When I first moved there I realized that there was never a dull moment; people arguing, children playing, cars bumping their music...

This might seem like it gets distracting. But I love the noise. I love to know that there is life around me. It's not incredibly noisy, so please don't think that. But I guess I am the type of person that takes comfort in knowing that there are others around me. My biggest problem at my last complex was that not one of my neighbors was friendly! When I sit in a classroom or go to a store, I like to get to know the people around me. So this is the same philosophy I carry with me at home...I would love to know my neighbors.

I am a bottom corner apartment. There is a woman and her young daughter across the hall. Directly up the stairs and above me is a family with a couple of teenage boys. Across from them there is an old Persian woman.

When I first moved in I was a little annoyed that this Persian woman fed the all the alley cats right at the foot of the stairs. There were dishes in the way and I smelled cat food. The woman across my hall put her daughter's bikes right under the stairs in front of my apartment...and I thought to myself, this is going to be a bit of an adjustment.

Time went by. One evening I came out of my apartment and noticed one of the alley cats in front of my neighbor's door. The cat was a female black calico. She was crouched over on my neighbor's doormat. Carefully guarded by her two front legs were three small kittens. I hadn't known she was pregnant...no surprise though because the Persian woman upstairs kept feeding all the darn cats! So I left.

The next day my neighbor across the hall had set up a box and blanket for the female and her kittens. Turns out there were four kittens in total. Several days after that, the woman across the hall set up a tent/tarp like structure for the cat and kittens underneath the stairs. She had used the bicycles to prop up the blanket. And still the old Persian woman upstairs came to feed the cats.

Some how in the midst of the days and as time continued, I found myself playing with the kittens...and conversing with all the neighbors in my unit. I got to know the neighbors and their work schedules, and I even got to know their children. About two weeks after the mother cat had settled, I came out one morning to find that the other female stray that had been fed also had kittens...and she had kicked the first mother out of the safe spot made. Eventually it came to be that there were two mother cats under the stairs in this safe haven, with their eight kittens!

The woman upstairs continued to feed and care for them while the woman across the hall continued to clean up after the cats. The kittens grew and we all played with them and made it a joint effort to find homes for each one.

What I had once considered annoyances brought me comfort.

The old Persian woman said she fed the cats because they were poor and needed someone to look after them. Had it not been for this sentiment and the caring of the woman across my hall, perhaps a conversation never would have started. If that is the case, a relationship with these people wouldn't have started either.

So it doesn't sound like much to some of you. But to someone who lives by herself, it means a lot to know one's neighbors. I admit there was a small tinge of excitement when my neighbor across the hall, Jennifer, left me notes taped to my front door with information regarding which kitten had been blessed with finding a home. It was also a peaceful experience to see the Persian woman's granddaughter and Jennifer's own daughter playing with the kittens as I got home from work. What was also another neat observation was the way in which one mother cat would take care of the other's kittens while the one mother took a break from motherhood.

I don't know. I guess my point is to reiterate to you the importance of the often overlooked or the seemingly unimportant. Small things make up the biggest part of our life. I am not asking you to make every single thing in your life to be absolutely the most important. Just observe and be thankful. After all, small distractions and annoyances have saved people's lives you know. Cherish the small and you will start to see how God really does bless you and loves you.

I can tell you personally that what happened beneath the stairs blessed me more than I can put into the words here.


....and yes....I adopted a kitten too....