Lola, the Parish Cat Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Grass Valley, California Chapter 1: Lola Comes Home The Kellermann girls were Lena, Sarah, Clara and Ella. Their dad was pastor of Emmanuel Church. They lived in the rectory, which is the pastor s house beside the church. It was a big fine house in a mountain town. When our story began Lena was in the sixth grade, Sarah in fourth, Clara in third grade and Ella in pre-school. Now they are much older. With four growing girls, the house was busy and sometimes noisy. But sometimes it was lonely, too. A house is lonely without a cat. The Kellermann girls lived near the public library. It was named for Josiah Royce, a famous scholar who lived in Grass Valley. His name is above the door. When he was a boy, he wrote a little book about his cat Blackie. Blackie joined the miners in Washoe, which is what people used to call Nevada. Many cats have stories. In her dreams a housecat hunts with lions. Maybe the Kellermann girls read The Happy Lion. He lived in the Paris zoo. The Happy Lion s friend was a French boy named Francois, the son of the zookeeper. The lion became sad when Francois went away to school. The 1
Happy Lion began a quest, which is when you search for something important. He didn t worry about which road to take. When you long for a friend, the Happy Lion said, you just find him. The Happy Lion had many adventures and when he found Francois at last, he was truly happy. Like the Happy Lion, the Kellerman girls also went on a quest a quest to find a cat. One day the girls went to Sammie s Friends with their mom. Sammie s is a kennel where dogs and cats wait for nice people to give them a home. At Sammie s Friends they saw a large tortoiseshell cat, lying in a cage. There was a sign I know I m not a kitten, I know I m sort of fat But if you will adopt me, I ll be a loving cat. The girls learned the cat was named Lola. They were surprised. Lola was the name of the woman who lived in the house next door to ours, said Ella. Yes, said Sarah, but that was a long time ago. Lena said, Lola Montez was an Irish girl, who danced for the King of Bavaria. Lena knew this because she was the oldest. I think Lola the cat belongs with us, said Sarah. Lena wasn t so sure, but the others were. They took her away in a carrier. The girls brought Lola home and into the kitchen. She was coming out of her cat carrier when their dad, Pastor Kellermann, walked in. He looked down at a very fat cat. Does she have a name? he asked. Lola!, the girls said in one voice. Their dad was surprised. Like the woman who lived next door, he said. We thought she belonged here, Sarah said. We didn t think anyone would give her a home, Lena said. She s so fat. She is fat, Dad said. As they talked, Lola lay down and rolled on her side. She kept her eyes on the Kellermanns. The girls mom was at the counter putting kibble into a small bowl. She set the bowl down on the floor. Seeing the bowl of kibble, Lola got up. She rolled on to her front legs, putting her paws flat 2
on the floor, and began to stand. She rolled her hips to set her rear legs underneath her. Then she lifted herself on her all fours. It took an effort for Lola to stand, and when she did her belly was close to the ground. On her way to the bowl, she stopped by Pastor Kellermann s shoe. A kibble had fallen there. She walked to the bowl and ate some more. When they went to find a cat, the Kellermann girls were on a quest. They didn t know they would find Lola. But when you find the cat for you, you just find her. Then you take her home. Chapter 2: Lola Makes a Home The Kellermann girls mom learned that Lola used to live in an apartment. She never went outside. She didn t run and play. She just ate and grew fat. Lola s family had to move away. They took Lola to Sammie s Friends, hoping a nice family would adopt her. The Kellermanns were the nice family. When she first came to the Kellermann house, Lola tried to hide. She hid in the bathroom. She hid beneath the staircase, where the family sets their shoes. She was afraid. The Kellermann girls pulled her from her hiding places. For fitness, they carried her to the bottom of the stairs and let her climb back up. They had learned Lola would get up, would walk, would even climb stairs for food. They left kibble on the stairs. All she wants is food, said Lena. The Kellermanns kept Lola s kibble in plastic containers. Lola could smell her food. She learned how to open the containers with her claws. Then the girls mom had to get stronger containers. As the Kellermanns fed and cared for Lola, she became less afraid. In the winter she sat on cushions in a window where the sun shines. When the day was rainy or cold, she sat by the heater. She felt safe and warm in the Kellermann house. When the weather was fine, Lola sunbathed on the patio. One day Sarah and her friend drew pink and blue chalk pictures on the patio. Later, Lola saw the pictures. She liked them. She rolled in the chalk and got chalk in her fur. 3
When Lola walked into the house, her paws were pink and blue. Lola saw the Kellermanns liked to sit and read. She began to climb into the chair with anyone who was reading. She wanted to sit with them and cuddle. This made reading difficult. Sarah Kellermann has only picked up Lola twice. That s because Lola will squirm free. Even though Lola grew to love the Kellermanns, she was still a cranky cat. She growls more than she meows, said Lena Kellermann. She still growls if you try to move her. She can scratch if you try to pick her up. But Clara Kellermann picked her up anytime she wanted. Lola loved Clara and followed her even when doors were closed. Lola stood on her back paws and stretched to reach the door knob and turned it. She then walked into Clara s room. Lola loved Pastor Kellermann, too, because he was kind and patient. She wanted to be in his lap. Lola loved all the Kellermanns and so she brought them presents. They were not the presents people want. Sometimes she would bring a snake into the house. Once Lola brought an alligator lizard. Lena was reading a book. She looked up startled to see a huge lizard sitting beside her. Chapter 3: Lola and Bart Lola lived with a big dog named Bart. He weighed 100 pounds. Bart came from Sammie s Friends, too. He was named for St. Bartholomew, who followed Jesus a long time ago. No one knew what kind of dog Bart was. He was part Labrador and Pointer and Pit Bull and he loved the Kellermann girls. If you were properly introduced to Bart, he would love you, too. When Lola saw a dog, she stood her ground. She didn t run. Sometimes dogs and cats fight. Once Lola scratched Bart s nose. But Bart forgave her. He didn t hold a grudge. Bart loved Lola and would never fight with her. He loved Lola but didn t understand her. Lola knew another dog, Gigi. Gigi was a little dog who came to church on Sunday. Lola sat near Gigi and watched, her head still, her eyes moving. Lola walked through Bart s dog door to go outside. She went out on sunny days or when people gathered at the church. 4
Once Clara dressed Lola in a fairy skirt and put a crown on her head. Her sister dressed Bart in a tutu. Lola and Bart felt silly wearing clothes, but they wore them for the Kellermann girls. One cold night in winter, Lola took Bart s warm dog bed. Bart looked at her and cried. Poor Bart. He had nowhere to sleep. Then Pastor Kellermann came to make Lola give Bart his bed. There were many warm places in the house where Lola could sleep. She liked to sleep on Clara s bed. Lola would walk up to Bart and rubs under his chin. The Kellerman girls said Bart and Lola were secret friends. They touched noses when they met. Lola learned to love Bart. He was her friend. Chapter 4: Lola Joins the Parish A parish is made of people who live around a church. They are the people who come to church on Sundays. They sing hymns and pray and listen to stories. They come on weekdays, when the Kellermann girls are in school, to work in the church garden, or clean the kitchen or read the Bible together. The parish is not only the people who come to the church. It s also the people who just walk by. They are the people who like looking at the wooden church because it s old and beautiful. Sometimes when they walk by, they say a prayer. That makes them part of the parish. Sometimes they don t know they are part of the parish, but they are. Lola discovered the parish when the Kellermann girls, their mom and dad, went to Mexico to help people there. She was left home for the summer without her family. Lola was lonely. That s when Lola became part of the parish. Everyday Neila Whiting, a parish lady, came to see Lola. Lola purred when Neila brushed her fur. She followed Neila and other women into the church. Lola watched the women care for the linens, arrange the flowers and prepare the altar for services. The parish woman worked in a small room called the sacristy. It was in the front of the church, near the altar. Lola liked the sacristy. She climbed into the drawers and slept on linen. The women kept kibble in the sacristy. Lola opened the cupboard doors, searching for kibble. 5
Lola loved the parish women, but they couldn t pick her up. They set down a trail of kibble to lead her out of the sacristy. When the Kellermanns left for Mexico, Lola slept in a baby buggy left on a porch near the church. She met Debbie Thaten, the parish secretary, when Debbie came to work in the morning. Meow, Lola cried. Lola visited the church office, where Debbie worked. Lola climbed on Debbie s desk and stared into the computer screen. She walked on the papers on the desk. She chewed on the desk pad. Lola came running when Debbie shook a container full of kibble. Lola s belly flopped back and forth as she ran. Every week parish people met to study the Bible together. Lola joined them. They sat around a table and Lola walked on the table. She liked to look into their eyes. If Pastor Kellermann was there, she sat in a chair beside him. She loved Pastor Kellermann. She loved to be with people. Lola began going to church on Sundays and special days. Chapter 5: Lola Comes to Church The ushers meet people who come to church. They stand at the doors and say, Good morning, good morning, beautiful day. They invite people inside. One day, when Betty Jane Comegys was the usher, Lola darted past her into the church. Lola ran to the front of the church and up the steps. She lifted herself into a tall chair near the altar. She started washing herself with her tongue and paws. Betty Jane left her place at the front door to go find Lola and take her out of the church. But Lola saw her coming. Lola jumped from the chair and down the steps. She ran under the pews and brushed against the ankles of people sitting in church. She ran into the aisle as the cross, pastor and choir were coming into the church singing. She led them up the aisle. Betty Jane gave up looking for Lola 6
while the choir processed into the church. After the choir had passed, Betty Jane resumed looking. She found Lola near the altar. When Betty Jane picked Lola up to carry her out, Lola growled like the Happy Lion when he wasn t happy. Betty Jane carried Lola down the aisle and out the door. But Lola would be back. Chapter 6: Lola Returns to Church Once Lola went to church she wanted to go always. She s quick through a door, said Debbie Thaten, the parish secretary. Debbie had a key to the church, but there was no keeping Lola out. After a while, no one tried to keep her out. The tall chair in front near the altar became Lola s favorite. The chair was reserved for the bishop, who wore a tall crown. The bishop visited the church from faraway, so he didn t need the chair very often. He left the chair to Lola. She loved the red velvet cushion. She sat on the chair, licking her paws and washing herself. Or she slept. Or she sat to hear the choir sing. Thom Greathouse played the organ and led the choir. He played piano, too. Sometimes Lola jumped on the piano and stretched out during the service. Sometimes she lay on her back, showing her white belly with her paws in the air. She would let Thom pick her up because she liked him. He grabbed her around her fat belly. Lola loves the church, Debbie Thaten said. She is a very holy cat. Someone holy likes to be near to God. What you have to understand, said Patricia Wolff, a member of the parish, it is Lola s church. It was Lola s own place to be with God. She chin-rubbed everything in the church. How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of host, says a poem in the Bible. The cat had found her a house And Lola a red velvet chair where she may lie By the side of your altar, my King and my God. Another time Lola went to a wedding. She took the seat of the mother of 7
the bride. The mother stared down at Lola. She was surprised to see Lola lying on the pew. The mother of the bride had to take another seat. Sometimes Lola sat near the altar beside Miles Helms, the acolyte. He petted her during the service. Lola always wanted to be petted, until she didn t want petting anymore. Then she might swat your hand. When she wasn t in the bishop s chair or on the piano or sitting by Miles, Lola sat in the pew beside someone she liked. Sometimes people didn t know there was a cat in church. But other times they did. Once Lola was washing herself in a pew. She rolled over and fell off on the floor no one could catch her. She fell with a loud thud! Once Lola climbed into the pulpit when Pastor Kellermann was telling a story in church. She loved Pastor Kellermann and wanted to be near him. She was lying at his feet as he told the parish about Jesus. Going to church makes people happy. But sometimes when they go they are sad. When people were sad or cried in church, Lola knew it. Lola sat by anyone who had a broken heart. The church is a safe place for people who feel sad. There they don t have to pretend they are happy when they aren t. Once a woman came out of the church crying. She saw Lola sitting outside the church, walked up and began petting her. Lola can be cranky, but not to someone who is sad. Lola sat quietly while the woman petted her and the woman s tears stopped. Once the Pastor Kellermann told a story about Lola in church. He read from the Bible: the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The whole building rests on the cornerstone, he said. Once Lola was rejected, lying in a shelter. Then the parish people loved her. She was still the Kellermann girls cat. And she became the parish cat, too. 8
Chapter 7: Do You Know Lola? How do you know a cat? You can talk to her. You can listen to the different tones of her meow. You can draw her picture. The best way to know a cat, is to play with her. If she won t play, all you can do is watch her walking away or lying in the sun. You may never feel you know her as well as you would like. She won t tell you what she s thinking. Only God really knows a cat. God hears her heart beat. God sees where she has been and where she is going. God knows the goodness in her. God made her and loves her. To know a cat is like the Happy Lion s quest. It takes many days. You can always learn more. There is always another day and another story. You may never know a cat as well as you want to know her. But sometimes you may sit with her as she purrs in your lap. Some cats have great adventures. There was a cat in the fishing village of Mousehole, Cornwall. The cat went out to sea in a little boat in a huge, frightening storm. The little cat saved the village by purring the storm to sleep. Lola didn t have an adventure like that. She had another kind of adventure, the kind we all have. Do you remember the poem on Lola s cage when the Kellermann girls found her? I know I m not a kitten, I know I m sort of fat But if you will adopt me, I ll be a loving cat. Then the Kellermanns loved Lola and Bart the dog loved her. The parish at Emmanuel Church loved Lola and maybe you love her, too. And Lola loved them all. Becoming a loving cat was Lola s adventure. The Christ child was born in a manger and grew up to become Jesus. You can read about him in the Bible. God sent Jesus into the world to show people how much God loved them. Jesus had an adventure. He showed people how to love one another. To learn to love is the greatest adventure of all. And that s what Lola learned. And many people learned to love Lola, even when she was a cranky cat. 9
Postscripts When Josiah Royce wrote the adventures of his cat, Blackie, he didn t finish the story. We don t know how Blackie got home after his adventures. Josiah Royce left the story for others to finish. The story of Lola isn t finished either. Do you want to write a story about Lola? Or about another cat you know? The parish will add your story as a postscript, which means something written after. Send your story to Emmanuel Church or give it to Pastor Kellermann any Sunday. Illustrations by Barbara Hendricks Illustrations 2018 by Ann McCann Written by Gage McKinney Production and design by David Comstock 10