Blog Relaunch, and the Year Recapped

It seems like just last month that I had published Lucius' page on Facebook. The year has flown by, and so much has happened. The blog, unfortunately, has gone relatively unused, but I plan to change that - starting now. To catch up, I'll recap the year:

Lucius' Facebook page was created on July 18, 2013, then publicly published on the 19th. On the first day, the page reached nearly 500 followers (or "friends," as I call them on his page). I've never considered it a "fan page," but rather as a community of people who care about him - his friends.

Ten days after publishing the page, Lucius was shown immense support as the cat community rallied and voted him as Modern Cat's "Cat of the Week" for the week of July 29th. What an honor! We weren't looking for publicity or personal exposure, but saw this as an opportunity for Lucius' story to reach others.

Between October and November, 2013, a project took place in which ornaments were made of Lucius' paw prints. The ornaments went on sale in December, with 100% of proceeds donated to charity. Through the help and support of Lucius' friends, the ornaments were purchased and shipped all around the world, with just over $800 raised and donated to our local special needs cat rescue, Wayward Whiskers Cat Rescue.

In March, 2014, Lucius appeared alongside his buddy and fellow blind kitty, Goo aka "Mr. Magoo Who? The Blind Kitty Whole Stole My Heart," in a Rhode Island newspaper column written on the subject of microphthalmia (meaning "small eyes," the condition that both kitties suffer from).

In June, after a proper and thorough application process, Lucius was accepted into a volunteer program through Children's Hospital in which (through me), he will be a supportive "pen pal" for children undergoing treatment. A few weeks later, Lucius again appeared in the Gabby Dog column. This time, with his mission as the subject of the article.

The mission of Lucius' online presence was initially to spread his story, not for purposes of personal exposure, but with the hopes of people, or even one person, reading his story and taking from it inspiration and/or information enough to pass on to someone else or to personally give a second look and second thought to a blind or special needs animal. The purpose of advocating for blind cats, attempting to dispel misconceptions, and save as many blind cats as possible is still (and will remain) the main focus of our mission and Lucius' online presence. The mission has been extended, though it may (at first) sound simple and insignificant, to bringing smiles. Smiles can have such an impact. You never know who is struggling from what, who could benefit from a smile, and how that smile may affect their day.

Over the course of the year, messages with updates, stories and photos were received regarding blind kitties who were saved, either through fostering or adoption; some citing Lucius' story and page as the inspiration, others through networking only directly from Lucius' page. In total, I am aware of seven blind cats who have been saved in this year; seven kitties who were given a brief window as a chance to live, who were saved and now have happy lives in loving homes.

I offer a virtual, mental toast in honor of an accomplished year, and my thanks to all who made such wonderful events possible.