Reader's Digest Oct/Nov

READER’S DIGEST A LONG-AWAITED REUNION NEW ZEALAND It was close to midnight when Lisa Pedersen James received what she feared must be a bad news phone call. Worry rapidly turned to disbe- lief when a stranger asked if she had lost a female cat, before describing the beloved slim grey feline they had given up for dead in another city five years earlier. Surely, Lisa thought, this must be a prank. The teacher turned librarian had rescued Garry – named after the meowing snail in an animated car- toon series – from an animal wel- fare centre on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island. The short- haired kitten was underweight and skittish, a ‘scaredy cat’ who instantly disappeared when visitors arrived. However, the animal grew a little fatter and became an affectionate companion to Lisa as well as her fel- low teacher and then-fiancé Callum James. After three years, everyone was a little nervous when the trio moved to the capital city of Wellington. Garry did not enjoy the long car ride or fer- ry crossing to her North Island home, while her owners had adjustments of their own as they settled into new jobs and friendships. Callum and Lisa knew the risks of relocating pets and were careful to lock their pre- cious cat inside each night for several months. One morning, though, they woke to find Garry gone. It seemed she had somehow escaped through the cat door. “It was pretty upsetting,” Lisa re- members. “There were tears. We were her parents and this little cat was in Wellington, all on her own.” One morning, the couple woke to find Garry had escaped through the cat door PHOTO COURTESY OF LISA PEDERSEN JAMES. 6 October/November 2024