After a terrible week, Karen Miele was ready to come to her cat Chips.
But what Miele did not expect to turn her day around was a single envelope that had been dropped through the mail slot.
Chips adores sitting on the windowsill and gazing out onto the street where both she and her human live in Nottingham, UK.
And while Chips did so, she had caught someone’s attention.
In the envelope was a developed photo of Chips looking out the window.
On the envelope, there was a little note that read:
“For you — Your lovely cat. I always look for him. —Jean.”
Jean even went as far as to write the year the photograph was taken on the back of the picture.
Miele thought the gesture was sweet so she took a photo of the message and shared it to Twitter.
The post read:
“An old lady took a photo of my cat Chips, went to the trouble of getting it developed and then put it in our letterbox this morning.”
And that’s when it happened: thousands and thousands of people saw Miele’s photograph of Jean’s message and the post went viral.
“I honestly didn’t think I would get more than about 5 likes on it!” Miele shared with The Dodo. “I’m still in shock.”
Jean, meanwhile, had no idea about this as she has never even met Miele before and was not on Twitter.
But another neighbor, Laura Patterson, saw the tweet and happened to know Jean.
She then went over to Jean to show her just how far her kind gesture had gone.
“She was reading through all the replies and was delighted and touched that people liked what she did,” Miele said. “I have invited her round for some tea and to meet Chips whenever she likes.”
Many folks on Twitter commented how they wished that their cats had their very own “Jean,” – someone who stops to notice the little, magical moments in life and share them with a stranger.
“Imagine if many more people were like this,” one person commented. “The world would be such a better place.”
While another said, “We need more Jean’s.”
Others felt compelled to share their own story of how a cat and/or animal touched their lives.
“I used to live underneath an old lady, who every Friday would buy my cat an unbattered fish from the chippy and sit and eat with her. It came to light when Wolfie (said cat) was locked in one day and she left it wrapped up on my doorstep (with a note) instead. Lovely lady.”
“I once hugged a weeping elderly neighbor in the middle of Tesco when she heard one of our cats had died. They can really work their way into people’s hearts.”
“Years ago I always waved & greeted a small dog who sat in a window of a nearby house. He often got loose & ended up on my steps waiting for me. About the 4th or 5th time I took returned him, his owner admitted they referred to me as “the dog’s girlfriend.” I was delighted.”
I think we can all agree, pets are the universal way into people’s hearts.
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