a very sweet story.

I am a cat lady for sure. Add Christmas to a sweet little kitty cat face, and I'm sold.

Exhibit A: Darrell on Christmas morning.

Exhibit B: Julia Romp's memoir.

Now, Romp's story isn't as simple as a cat wandering off and making it home for Christmas. It's so much more than that. Julie is a single mother to her 9-year-old autistic son, George. George had become progressively withdrawn from his mother, which took away their ability to connect and communicate as parent and child. Then a cute little cat strolled into their yard one day, and George's attitude instantly changed. He became much more engaged and full of life. It seemed like things were looking up for this small family until Ben (the cat) disappeared. It was terrible on George, and the progress that he had been making with Julie started to quickly unravel. Ben was gone for months, but a few days before Christmas, they got a Holiday miracle.