It’s not easy, but we’re doing our best,” her mother, Heather Howell, told InsideEdition.
“She’s a happy little girl. When we found out, I wasn’t sure she would be 4. We take it as it comes”
Then, two years ago, the family found a white kitten only a few weeks old hiding in the parking lot behind their apartment complex and took him in. The cat, later named Angel, quickly became close to Charlie.
“Whenever Charlie has a bad day of chemo and he lays down on the couch, Angel is there. She’s right by his side,” Howell said.
But in September, when the family opened the door to load the groceries, Angel left. After losing Angel, Charlie continues to ask for the cat.
“Charlie doesn’t really understand things like an average 4 year old, so there was really no way to explain it to him. She was just calling him, and we thought about getting him another kitten because we were all shocked,” Howell explained. .
Although they had another cat, they didn’t give up on finding an angel. The family has stayed in touch with local shelters and has also posted information about the missing cat on their Facebook page, Smiles for Baby Charley. Afterwards, the post was widely shared on Facebook.
Months later, a friend told them about a Facebook post showing Angel in the arms of her new owners. Howell guessed that someone might have taken Angel for a while before putting her back in a shelter by the end of November.
She then tried to get information about the new owners of the shelter, but was unable to do so due to privacy concerns.
Fortunately, followers of the family’s Facebook page helped Howell contact the new owners, the Hilliard family, who lived minutes from Howell.
When Vanessa Hilliard learned of Angel’s story, she immediately called Howell and then took the cat to the family to check if it was Angel.
“I was like, ‘I wish that was her cat.’ I cried on the way home. It was so sad. We got in touch with Angel quickly,” Hilliard said.
“I think we were in the right place at the right time.”
“I think if someone in our situation or situation would have done the same thing,” Hilliard told 3WEARTV.com.
