Catherine Hubbard dreamed of being a caretaker at an animal sanctuary before dying in the Sandy Hook shooting. Now, her mother is making her vision a reality.
Ever since she was born in 2006, Catherine had a burning passion for animals, her mother, Jenny Hubbard, told The Washington Post. By the time she turned 5, Catherine had already decided she wanted to be an animal sanctuary caretaker when she grew up. But on Dec. 14, 2012, she was one of 20 children and six adults killed insideThe freckle-faced girl with bright red locks was just 6 years old.
“I made a conscious choice since the tragedy to not focus on and continue to relive what happened in Sandy Hook,” Hubbard said. “ … It’s a solemn day for sure. And it is a day that I will forever remember as losing Catherine, but it’s also a moment to look forward with hope that she didn’t die for nothing.”
Hubbard can still hear Catherine’s laughter as she swayed her butterfly net across the garden years ago. Her favorite memory, and one Hubbard said she can picture so clearly, is the time a butterfly landed on Catherine as she sat still in the grass. Unlike her “relentless” attempts at catching everything from insects to birds to squirrels, Catherine was calm and peaceful.“I’ve tried to pinpoint the day where I was like, ‘Wow, Catherine really loves animals,’” Hubbard said.
Catherine’s love for animals ran deeper than outdoor adventures and horseback riding lessons, Hubbard said. On one snowy day, Catherine, then 5, and her older brother took it upon themselves to create business cards. What Hubbard didn’t know is that her children were crafting them on a legitimate website and would eventually order 250 of them to their home. Catherine’s featured a collage of different patterns overlaying a baby pink background. The business’s name: “Catherine’s Animal Shelter.
“I was at first mortified that they had ordered these business cards for businesses that did not exist,” Hubbard said. “So I said to both of them that the business cards couldn’t leave the house. The next day I got an email from Catherine’s kindergarten teacher telling me that her business cards were just precious, just precious.”Those pink business cards are now at the sanctuary, Hubbard said.
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