My brother decided to help rescue people, he went to La Guaira on June 25th after the earthquake and we were taking supplies from here for his team and for everyone we could help in the ground zero, but the reality is that my brother took it seriously, he stayed there until recently.
During that time, he rescued people from under the rubble, both living and dead, as well as pets. He was always very dedicated; in fact, he's a member of the university fire department, and he also regularly collaborates with animal protection organizations. He's like a brother to me, and while he was there, he helped us heal our wounds.
Amidst his sadness at seeing so much destruction and knowing he had arrived too late several times, he rescued a cat alive. He told us that the cat was in the arms of a little girl, and that this girl, along with her parents, are all in another realm, except for the cat. This touched him deeply.
When we were children we had a cat, this one is identical, even the same temperament. Our parents always told us that we should make those decisions when we grew up, not when we were children, because having a pet is a responsibility.
You already know where Milagritos is. My brother named her Milagros, after the miracle of life. For him, spending so many hours rescuing bodies and finding a cat so similar to the one our parents made us give away was like an opportunity to do it right.
This cat wasn't eating; we thought she was going to die. But we talked to her a lot, and it was very painful to learn that her whole family, who clearly loved her, was gone. I was like a chatterbox, but I wanted her to feel loved. We took her to the vet, and the doctor gave us clear instructions. "She could get sick; she's very depressed," he told us. Mom and Dad were very moved.
Whatever our brother asked for, he would get it. This little cat, without us even noticing, started sleeping on his pillow while he was still at ground zero, helping, learning, teaching, giving his all. And I remember one night, the cat out of nowhere left my brother's bed and went to my parents' bed and climbed on top of my mom, purring and being very expressive.
My mom put down her phone and took her to the kitchen. It was as if Milagritos had finally woken up from the shock of everything she'd been through. Mom served her a little chicken and put it on the counter, lifted her onto it, and she devoured it all. We thought she might get sick if she kept going without food, but she lived up to her name. She ate, she recovered; now, when my brother is home, she's inseparable from him, but when he's not, her favorite person is my mom. She lost her family and accepted us as her new family. Milagros survived to show my parents that she could be that little cat who would bring us joy again and heal that childhood wound, offering us a new opportunity.
