Losing a pet is a heartbreaking experience to live, especially if you’ve taken care of the animal for many years.
In a viral news story from 2016, four girls from Texas helped assuage the grief of their teacher as she mourned the loss of her beloved cat by giving her two kittens.
Math teacher Tonya Andrews of Joshua High School had been through thick and thin with her 16-year-old cat Blondie. When Blondie passed away as she cuddled her for the last time, Mrs. Andrews was devastated.
In a quiet moment in one of her algebra classes, when her students were solving several problems, the normally fun-loving teacher broke down and began crying. Mrs. Andrews explained what had happened to Blondie, noting that she thought coming to school would take her mind off her grief.
All of Mrs. Andrews’s students were naturally sympathetic to their teacher, but none more so than four girls: Rachel Hanhart and her friends Sheridan, Ashley, and Michaela.
In an interview with Inside Edition, Rachel explained that she and her friends were moved to help Mrs. Andrews because they could tell of her pain from the look in her eyes. With her mother’s help, Rachel found two kittens up for adoption in the Fort Worth area and planned to present them to Mrs. Andrews the next day.
As the four students’ surprise began to take shape, they told reporters with Inside Edition how emotional they were from anxiety. Filming the whole thing, the four girls walked down the hall and into Mrs. Andrews’s classroom.
Ashley approached Mrs. Andrews first, handing her roses. Next, Sheridan came in, giving Mrs. Andrews a cupcake and several red and blue balloons.
Overcome with emotion, Mrs. Andrews began to cry as Rachel walked in carrying the two kittens, each of whom sported a beautiful red bow.
Rachel later confided in Inside Edition how Mrs. Andrews gasped when she saw the two adorable baby cats, scooping them up in her arms and giving each of them a kiss as she welcomed them into her life. Rachel says that it is impossible for her to describe how happy the kittens made Mrs. Andrews feel and that there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
Mrs. Andrews later named the kittens Missy and Girlie. Footage of the surprise orchestrated by the four girls eventually became a viral hit on Twitter, where it has been watched nearly 3 million times.
We wish Mrs. Andrews all the best with Missy and Girlie. In the end, her reaction to her new fur babies is proof positive of the love that exists between human beings and animals.
What do you think of how Rachel, Ashley, Sheridan, and Michaela helped their grieving teacher by giving her two kittens? How do you help people in your life when they are grieving for the loss of a loved one?
