So…I see that I am destined to take one two roles after I retire. First is to establish St. Gertrude’s Cottage and help ensure the secure futures for cats whose owners have passed away. The other is to establish a regular transportation route that runs weekly from one major city to another, creating a reliable “leg” along the journey.

Retirement is in two years. Not long!

There is a 5400 sq ft house on 6 acres in Nebraska that would be wonderful.  The cost: $30,000. The problem is this: Not only would it take about $250,000 to make it liveable, it is not close to essential services like vet care and supplies.

There is another property in North Carolina for $52,000. It is a 4000 sq ft three-story Queen Anne Victorian with a liveable cottage on the grounds and a large two-story two-car garage that could be built out. But the cost to restore the house is going to be around $180,000, and although the house is zoned commercial, there is some question about restoring the interior to accommodate cats; there might be a violation of the historic property and restoration requirements if we finished off the third floor into kitty rooms at each of the three gables and at the huge turret. We found another nice property in the NC mountains, too, but are uncertain about the essential resources nearby.

We found an unfinished 5200 sq ft home in Kentucky on 25 acres for $160,000. But when we visited, we discovered that the previous owner had built this huge house right over a house trailer. It looked like the structure had been torpedoed by the trailer with both ends sticking out!

Kentucky seems to have quite a number of properties that could be suitable. We seem to gravitate to the region south of Louisville, but there is always some feature that is not appropriate for our intentions.

We found two restored properties just south of Cincinnati selling together for $180,000.  This one looks promising, but the properties are not contiguous; they are across the street from one another.

There is one in Georgia that looks lovely at 3800 sq ft. Plenty of room for the caretaker and the kitties. It needs some work, but we don’t have even informal estimates on refurbishing yet.

North East Texas has two properties, each having two homes on the acerage.  We’re going to visit there soon.

I guess what we’re trying to say is that we are being particular about the property, the structures on it, and the community resources. We continue to explore opportunities in various regions of the country. In our discussions with other such facilities, we learned of impediments they encountered that we want to avoid — the lack of space and the inability expand because there is not enough acerage or because of county or city regulations.  We want to avoid these; thus, we seek large structures on decent-sized parcels of land in rural areas or in small towns that would welcome such a facility.

If you know of something, leave us a message!

In fact, do you see yourself as a participant in this venture? Many of you have expressed great interest in seeing St. Gertrude’s Cottage come to be.  Many of you have indicated that knowing such a place could exist gives you solace about having your cats cared for when you cannot.  Our biggest obstacle at the moment is financial. St. Gertrude’s Cottage is not going to be a second thought facility; it will be my future — my first thought — as well as the future of beloved cats and those who seek to provide for them. That could be you.  Although, my pastor was disappointed with events that nearly destroyed the vision, he indicated that he still saw God’s hand in the effort and did not doubt that funding would come from unusual sources.  To paraphrase Mother Theresa of her vision for her facility, if the idea is a good one, the money will come. Although St. Gertrude’s Cottage is not on that magnitude, the sentiment still applies. If the idea is a good one, the money will come.

My excitement for the project has heightened lately and I have struggled to hold my enthusiasm in check, lest I get ahead of God, like Abraham. Still, the thought came to me that those who might wish to be a part of the project and help establish it might very well be those with the most interest is seeing it become a valid option for them one day. That would be you.

Fortunately, I am recovering from the devastation that my fears about what my family might do have come true.  God did not let me down, though. He gave me a quiet peace as I stood in horror that it fell apart…for a misunderstanding. There was comfort amid the tragedy, a tragedy of many dimensions.  In fact, on the morning after one of the worst nights of my life when the news came that the plan for  St. Gertrude’s Cottage had died, God touched me gently. As I was driving to work listening to a local Christian radio station, the pastor delivering his message spoke of misunderstandings, of family misunderstandings, of how they weaken and destroy what is precious, how it is almost always impossible to recover from them.  That message was for me.  Plain and simple.

So, as I move away from the pain, I await the hand of God again.  I sit in my house amid all the belongings packed in boxes, a house half-empty from all the furniture I gave away in anticipation of  my move.  There will be a different move. The plan is for St. Gertrude’s Cottage to become a reality, whether by my hand or another.  I waited two years with excitement and hope and love only to see the plan destroyed.  I can wait a few more years as it unfolds once again.

Three of us went before the commission and answered questions about the operation and the plans.  Our business manager, facility planner, and veterinarian addressed the questions without any hesitation. We have been planning this facility for over a year. We have considered the issues. We have experience in feline management and care. We know how to approach our vision.

We are so relieved and so pleased to have secured this approval. The county sent letters to the people living nearby just in case they would have a problem with a cattery. One of the neighbors even sent us a note wishing us well with our venture.  No problems! The people are so nice in the area. They truly are.

Shortly, we begin our efforts on the building itself. Our plans are for a two-story structure on a walk-out basement — three floors with space set aside for the live-in caretaker.  Come spring, we break ground.

We are excited and very thankful that the Lord has laid these plans for us.

We settled on the property, and it was right under our noses all along.  Funny how that works out.  We have set aside one private wooded acre on the family farm for St. Gertrude’s Cottage.  After making that decision, we met with the zoning folks and learned that new regulations were under consideration. We quickly studied them and even made some recommendations to accommodate our plans.  In short, the regulations passed, and St. Gertrude’s Cottage falls very nicely within the guidelines.  We need only one more approval on the usage.

In the meantime, we approached the state highway folks about building a driveway to cut into the nearest highway. Our proposed access point was not on a curve.  It did not impede any traffic.  It would not cause a safety hazard.  In short, our request was approved.

Next, we had to obtain permission from FEMA to build.  At that point, we hit a big snag.  According to the FEMA records, the acre was on the flooplain; therefore, we could not build a residence there. Big disappointment all around, primarily because the acre sits up on a hill about a eighth of a mile from the nearest river. What’s this with a floodplain?  We sat with that news for a few weeks, wondering what to do. We considered returning to the plan to purchase property. Then we kinda went blank for a while.  We ground to a halt, numb and disappointed. Until, a spouse decided “No” wasn’t the right answer.  What would it take to reverse the decision? We found out and went full speed ahead to challenge it.  Hire one surveyor. Re-survey the area and its elevation. Obtain geographic details from the state offices. Put it all together, and revisit FEMA. In short, our building request was approved.

In the meantime, the Lord led us to a builder who wanted to sell one of his models very cheaply.  It’s huge. It’ll work. It’s the right price. It has to be moved.  That’s not a problem too great to overcome, but it cannot be done now.

The most important building to construct right now is the barn for the horses.  The good news is that it is going up and will be ready for the horses to winter in. So, with energy and resources devoted to the barn, St. Gertrude’s Cottage will wait until spring.

That’s OK. We’ve always known that God’s hand was in our venture. He has helped us learn patience. We know that spring will bring renewed effort and the biggest step to date…groundbreaking for the foundation.

Still, we continue to take calls and emails for information about St. Gertrude’s Cottage. We continue to help people explore their options. We want to be that option. It just won’t happen until this spring.

As a rescuer, I often encountered wonderful cats who had outlived their owners.  The owners thought the spouse would care for the cat, or family would, or friends would.  Truth is: they rarely do.  They have pets of their own; they have children to tend to; they have other responsibilities besides caring for another’s cat, no matter how sweet and loving.  We were able to adopt out some of the cats.  A few of them lived out their lives in foster care, never again having a home of their own.  I wanted to fix that.  I wanted to give cat owners secure options.  I wanted to build a home devoted to cats whose owners could no longer care for them.

My sister liked the idea, so together we made our plans, prayed about the next step, and felt God moving in our venture.  We chose the name “St Gertrude’s Cottage” after the patron saint of cats.  We chose “cottage” because we want to build something friendly and intimate.  We chose to build in the rolling bluegrass hills of Kentucky because the area is gentle in so many ways — especially the people.  The other reason: Kentucky is my home state, so it is time to wander back.

After months of planning and preparing, we established St. Gertrude’s Cottage as an LLC in the state of Kentucky.  The date of the incorporation: March 17, St. Gertrude’s Day.  God did a nice little touch with that one.

We have also designed a cattery where our kitty residents can live out their lives safe and comfortable and very much loved.  We built a Web site at www.stgertrudescottage.com, which has attracted a number of potential customers.  We have talked up the idea with cat owners, friends, family, colleagues, bankers, startup investors, and every one of them finds our plans worthy and of great value.  My niece also finds it worthy and has taken ownership in the effort.  She is a veterinarian and plans to devote much of her skill and knowledge to the care of the cats we take into the cattery.  Sometimes called a cat retirement home, sometimes called a lifetime care facility — whatever you call it, we plan to build it.

I am preparing my house for sale so I can move back to Kentucky.  The one thing we don’t have is a property on which to build the cattery.  We don’t want just any bit of land.  We want one close to essential services, yet with enough acerage to give our cat residents solitude and peace as they live out their lives.  We want one that has a barn and pastures for our horses and a residence for an onsite  fulltime caretaker.  We want one that has the blessing of the zoning commission.  We want one close to family and close enough to an airport so we can hop a plane and fetch our future resident when the time comes.

So, we wait.  God has a plan and when it is ready to move forward, we will be ready.