This is the story of two very special angel kitties, and about the depth of God's love for all of His creation.

Tito's story: It all started with Tito... Tito came into our lives one rainy night near Easter, a tiny abandoned newborn kitty. One of our dear friends, Anthony, upon returning home, heard some animal crying in the street. He tried to keep walking and ignore the creature, thinking it may have been a rat. But his heart wouldn't let him walk away. He went over to where the sound was coming from, and there in the gutter was a newborn kitten, with his umbilical cord still attached. Anthony took him home, washed him off, and went to the store to the milk replacement formula for kittens. He knew if this kitty was going to live, it was vital that he would drink. Anthony and Tito struggled all night with that bottle, and just when Anthony thought it was hopeless, that little kitty latched on and filled his tiny stomach. Final believing that this kitty would live, Anthony named him Tito Jackson, for the one that got left behind.


Anthony & Baby Tito

Anthony knew that raising Tito on his was going to be extremely difficult, so asked my daughter Amanda to take shifts with Tito, caring for him while Anthony was at work. I had been firm on the" no more pets" rule in our home, since we had offered a place of refuge to many of God's creatures while Amanda was growing up, and now that she was in college, it was time to "just say no." Anthony encouraged Amanda to bring Tito over to my place anyway, just so I could see him, he knew I wouldn't be able to resist Tito, and he was right. As I heard my daughter coming up the steps with that crying kitty, I was thinking to myself, "Oh no she didn't!" Well, she did, and when she laid Tito on my abdomen, he stopped crying and nuzzled into me...as if he'd found the mother ship. From then on, I would say, "Well, I suppose we could have a kitty..." We started by taking care of him in shifts, but soon it became clear the best place for Tito was with me, his MeMa...and Tito named me. We added our last name to his name, and that's how he came to be Tito Jackson Paggett, our first kitty of the heart.

Lovey Tito

When he was a couple of months old, he got very sick, and unable to diagnose his malady of symptoms, the vet said this may all be related to his being rejected at birth. In the coming months there were many trips to the vets, as well tests, medications and most of all prayer. He made it through all that, and spent three very happy healthy years on earth. Even in his parting moments, Tito left this earth in the gentlest way possible. He just laid down and died in his favorite spot, the center of our home, where all rooms and hallways connect. When I came home that night, I thought it strange that he didn't greet me at the door as he always did. I went to him, and his little body was still soft and warm, but he was gone. I wrapped him in his baby blanket and just held next to my heart while weeping and thanking God for his life.

Tito brought more healing and joy to our lives than teams of specialists and medications. Tito fought so hard to live, and taught us a lot about courage and strength. We thought we were saving Tito, but we can now so clearly see, he was really saving us. Tito had a mission while he was on this earth, and he fulfilled it in great and mighty ways. We are forever changed by that little kitty, as he was God's love wrapped in fur. Jesus knew He had to get us to let His love in, and Tito was His earthly messenger.

It's been so hard to sleep without him, and his little brother Scout is devastated. Because we got Tito as a newborn, he never really knew he was a cat; before Scout came, he thought he was a human. He drank out of a cup, sat upright on the couch, and slept with pillows and blankets. From the time he opened his eyes, he saw humans, so it make sense that he would think he was one too.

Angel in training...Tito sleeping w/rainbow blanket

Scout's story: When Tito was about a year old, my daughter, Amanda, wanted a lap kitty. She kept asking for a little black and white kitten she had seen at an adoption center. I told her if she wanted another kitty, she'd better get on her knees and pray, because the only way we were getting another kitty would be if God marched him through our front door. I was absolutely certain that Tito was meant to be an only kitty, and also quite certain that Amanda was wrong to want to bring another kitty into our home. Well, maybe I wasn't absolutely certain...if so, I was absolutely wrong!

Early one morning a couple of weeks later, we were awakened by the incessant cry of a kitten. The crying went on for so long, we decided we'd better go check on him. I looked out the peephole, and there was a tiny little black and white kitty on our doorstep, looking up at me with a look that said, "finally!" Shocked, I opened the door, and he walked right through it. He came inside like he owned the place; ate from Tito's dish, used Tito's potty, and then came over and looked up at us. We speechlessly watched Amanda's prayer being answered to the tee.

Brotherly Love...Tito and Scout

So, we took that little black and white kitty to the vet, to be scanned and to see if we could find out where he came from. After looking at him, she said, "We can scan him, but I can tell you right now, he's nobody's kitty but yours. Sometimes we choose pets, other times they choose us. This kitten has chosen you." So she scanned him, and did the complete assessment, concluding that he was most likely a feral kitty, in need of a good home. We named him Scout Scrapper Paggett; Scout, because he scouted us out and Scrapper, because he did the Halloween kitty thing with Tito, who couldn't figure that creature out at all. Scout adored Tito, and Tito loved his little brother.

Love Spoons

Scout moved into our home and hearts like he'd been there all along. It's really an amazing story! Praise God I have Scout now, he and I are missing Tito so much. We've all learned to love with abandon, and to treasure every day we have on this earth. Through Tito I learned what hope really meant...rock solid faith that God will work all things for good! Through Scout I learned that God does hear our prayers, and that He answers them in great and mighty ways...all we need do is believe, and open the door to His love.

Written in Loving Memory of Tito Jackson Paggett
By his MeMa, A.K.A. Kat Paggett

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new --2 Corinthians 5:17

><> ><> Tito My Heart <>< <><
See you on the other side
Love you forever, MeMa

04/28/2003-11/10/2006

Sweet Tito, Tito my heart, you have blessed our lives with your heart full of love and determination, and we are forever changed for the better because you came into our lives. You are our forever kitty of the heart, and I know you live on in all of our hearts. I pray we live our lives with such faith and love as you did while you were wrapped in fur =)

MeMa's Prayer for Tito

Dear Jesus,
Thank You so much sending Tito into my life!!! He brought so much healing and inspiration with him. I know it was You, all along, teaching me about yourself through that tiny miracle who became my big beautiful loveyboy. It's been a week now, since I lost my sweet little boy, my forever Tito. In Your Mercy You've carried me through this week. Thank you for letting me know he's in my heart now, and for letting him pass right before I got home. I'll never forget holding his warm soft body, it was as if he was sleeping in my arms. Thank you for sending that compassionate women to take his body from me while still wrapped in his baby blanket. Lord, please bless her in her loss too. Thank you also for sending Marie to my first day of work, there are angels all around me, in human and other than human forms. Thank you for the compassionate coworkers, and for the time to grieve rest and heal. Oh Jesus, thank You for breaking me, I know there's more room for You in my life now. Please help to me to love others the way Tito loved me. Forever and Ever Amen.