The true journey from widower to the happily married man I am today. How my wife, Kitty, and our two rescue cats gave me a second lease on life.
"This is like drinking tea and honey on a cold day."
FINALIST for the 2014 RONE AWARD
A True Romance Memoir
Love was then.
Love is now.
Love is forever.
When tragedy struck, I thought for sure that my own life was at an end. I was wrong. This is the true story of how love once again brought romance and laughter back into my life.
If you love reading feel-good memoirs, then don't miss THE THREE KITTIES THAT SAVED MY LIFE, where "Mike Meyer pens a tender tale of love, loss, and renewal. The depth of emotion is palpable...The Three Kitties will tug at readers' heartstrings, as they ride through the emotional highs and lows of Mike Meyer's remarkable story." - InD'tale Magazine
Excerpt
It is amazing how time helps. In time, I have learned to overcome my own albatross. I have learned to live again, to love again. Life is a gift reads a plaque on our dining room wall, and that sums up what I have gained from the three kitties that saved my life. From Coco, I learned to care again. From Kitty, I learned to love again. From Pom Pom, I have learned how to cope with my own demons, the effects of aging being one of these. Pom Pom has taught me to accept what is and then to move onward. Yes, I have learned plenty from my three kitties.
My journey has been a long one, a difficult one at times, but it has a happy ending. The three kitties in my life have made it so. They have all helped me to become the happy-to-be-alive man that I am today. I now accept rather than cope. I live each day to the fullest, knowing full well that life is a gift, and a very precious one at that. I look back on my life and I often think that I must be the luckiest man in the world. I have so much to be thankful for. The wonderment and beauty of life are both so dear to me.
And, to add a delicious icing to the lovely taste of my life, I can say with total honesty to the whole world, my voice booming into the sky, my dancing feet not caring in the least who might see me, that I have been very fortunate to have done something that brings more sheer delight and wonderful pride to me than anything else that I have accomplished in my life: I have fallen madly, head-over-heels in love not once, but twice, and how many others can say that?
Thank you, Kitty!
Professional Reviews
Beautiful and inspiring, April 22, 2013
"The Three Kitties That Saved My Life" by Mike Meyer is a moving memoir about loss and recovery.
Meyer lost his first wife to cancer and gradually recovers from his grief and manages to move on with his life, with the help - you guessed it from the title - two cats and his second wife, named Kitty.
This is a selection of short chapters that chronicles the development of Meyer from a bitter widower to a fully functioning and happy man.
As an animal lover myself I could not help but love he tales of his relationship with the stray cat that comes into his life just as he needs someone the most - and the same goes for the cat.
Charming and much more upbeat so much sooner in the book than I would have expected this has a great feeling to it and is inspiring as well as entertaining. It reminded me much more of dog books such as "Marley and Me" (sorry, I have not read a similar cat book yet) than of cancer / loss/ self help books, but it should fit wonderfully in either category.
Having read different books by the same author I am amazed at the versatility of his writing and pleased to see a man so full of life behind those great books of his.
A life-changer., April 23, 2013
We all suffer loss in our lives, yet few of us would bare our souls for all the world to see. Michael Meyer has done just that in this uplifting and cathartic book. There is no fluff, just honest and heartfelt emotion. In The Three Kitties, he relates the meeting and courtship of his first wife, and then the devastating loss he suffered after nineteen years of marriage. This tragic event just sets the stage for what's to come.
Mr. Meyer is honest in his exposure of his all his weaknesses and depression ... and how the introduction of an energetic kitten named Coco helped lead him back into the real world -- and just in time before his demons won out. I could go on about the other two kitties that came into his life to help save him, but I don't want to be a spoiler. Just be assured that this short book is a simple, quick read, full of emotion and love, and that it will be impossible for you not to be impressed. This story will touch you, and you'll be telling your friends about it long after you've finished.
Norrmally I don't read these kinds of books, but this one was exceptional. I read it in a few hours ... and it has left an impression. The Three Kitties will give you hope that there is life after loss. Please buy this book and absorb it into your own life's experience. It will make you a stronger person.
A heartwarming read!
By the time I got to 5% in this book on my Kindle, I was already bawling my eyes out. Seriously, I had to put it down every two minutes or so to wipe the tears from my eyes first before I could continue reading. In only a few paragraphs, the author managed to describe his first wife in such a sincere way, it felt to me as though I’ve known her personally. His loss was palpable and felt like my own. My heart broke for him, not only for losing his life partner to cancer, but also for all the trying times he had to endure together with her as she battled with this incurable, unforgiving illness. Although at the start this is an achingly heartbreaking story about loss, grief, starting over and moving on, it is also filled with many humorous laugh out loud moments; and at its core, it is a poignant tale about healing and finding “the one”.
I adore cats and was delighted to read the chapters on the author’s days spent with his cat, Coco! It made me miss my own cat that had passed away many years ago. Every cat-lover should read this book though. It is so magnificently spot-on with all the kitty mannerisms and typical feline traits; I couldn’t stop smiling as I recognized this same behavior in my own cats. Coco and Pom Pom’s different and adorable personalities jumped off the page and made me want to cuddle them and play all their favorite games with them. The one thing Coco did that practically had me rolling on the floor with laughter was when he was playing with the bathroom cabinet doors in the middle of the night. The little guy was having a grand ol’ time and I just couldn’t stop laughing while envisioning this spectacle.
And then there are the chapters about the author stepping back into the dating arena again. He described it so well that I was chewing my nails with nervous anticipation as he went through several failed attempts until he finally met “the one”. Let me tell you now: Hollywood couldn’t have written a better or more moving romance even if they tried. I have read novels where the romance nearly brought me to tears with its all encompassing beauty, but not one of those romance novels holds a candle to what these two people have in real life. I couldn’t help but feel the same joy as what they felt while falling in love with each other.
The best part of this quick read is that it left me wanting more! This was just such a memorable and personal journey to take with the author. Starting from the minute he met his first wife, losing her to cancer, then having to go through the grieving and healing process, finding and giving Coco a home, working up the courage to open himself again to love and finding a soul mate, and then meeting his second wife, and opening his home to a playmate for Coco; The Three Kitties That Saved My Life is a candid, wholly poignant and heartfelt recounting of one man’s voyage from devastating loss to his unexpected happily ever after. I recommend this extraordinary novella to everyone who has ever had to deal with loss, and also to every cat-lover out there who would undoubtedly enjoy the antics of Coco and Pom Pom, and who would understand that a house can become a home with the addition of four-legged felines. This inspiring novella barreled me through a multitude of emotions and cemented my opinion that cats indeed do have healing powers. As it takes about two hours to read, The Three Kitties That Saved My Life is the perfect anytime read for anyone anywhere!
Join me as we travel together on the road called "Aging." I will be sharing my personal experiences with you and offer ideas on how we can better navigate the complex byways of our older years. Grief, healing, generations, ancestors, and more.
This is not a drill. The attack on Pearl. They were the ghost planes of the night, deadly, illusive, sharp-clawed Black Cats. The Memoirs of ARM H.P. Lawrence, a Pearl Harbor survivor, Black Cat, and decorated war veteran.
