About 30 years ago, Kate Rogan joined the Peace Corps and moved to El Salvador. About six months into her service, she got a phone call from the country director.

“His exact words were, ‘Kate, I’m so sorry. Your dear mother has died,’” Rogan said.

The news left Rogan in shock. The next few hours were a blur of packing and driving to the airport. Her route home took her from El Salvador to Miami and then from Miami to Boston.

But after boarding her final flight, the pilot came on the intercom to tell passengers that Logan International Airport in Boston had just closed due to bad weather.

 ”People started unbuckling their seat belts, and I looked around, and I didn’t understand what was happening,” Rogan recalled. “I said, ‘What’s happening?’ And people said, ‘They canceled the flight. There’s [a] big snowstorm in Boston. We’re not going anywhere.’”

Stunned and overwhelmed, Rogan began to sob.

“I don’t remember if I screamed or if I said loudly, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no, you don’t understand. I need to go to Boston. My mom just died.’”

The people around her began to stare. Then, Rogan felt a hand on her shoulder. It was another passenger.

 ”She said, ‘Come with me. I got you.’”

The woman helped Rogan off the plane, got her in line for a voucher from the airline and then took her to a hotel.

 ”And she knocked on my door the next morning, and she got me to the airport again and just took care of me,” Rogan remembered.

Once they landed in Boston, the woman didn’t say goodbye until she dropped her off with Rogan’s sister at baggage claim.

“I don’t remember what her name was, but if I ever saw her again, I would just say thank you for taking care of me. I was this strong, independent young woman, but in that moment, I could not handle life without somebody helping me. So thank you.”

My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.

Gnocchi sits attentively on a Beverly Grove sidewalk with his owner, Julia Luke. Gnocchi wears a pink collar with his name on it, an air tag and a red harness with a leash. He observes the neighbors. He sniffs the grass. He watches bugs crawl in the dirt.

A clowder of stories celebrating cats and the L.A. people who love them.

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“People know Gnocchi’s name before they know mine,” Luke said.

But seeing Gnocchi stops strangers in their tracks.

That’s because Gnocchi isn’t a dog.

“It’s a cat on a leash!” an unfamiliar neighbor exclaimed recently, stooping to pet him.

While walking cats may seem like a novelty, more Angelenos do it than you think. We asked readers to tell us why they walk their cats, and within hours, roughly 160 people answered. Many said they want to give their pets a fully enriched life, fearing that indoor-only cats miss out on the outdoors experience. Rather than subject free-roaming outdoor cats to dangers like cars and coyotes, some opt for supervised harness and pram walking.

Zephyr the cat leads Ivy the dog in an evening walk in Highland Park. Zephyr is the unspoken boss of Ivy, their owner Hayden Freedman said.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

“ I know [Gnocchi is] happier when he has exposure to more sensory things than being inside all day long,” Luke said of her domestic shorthair. “I think about how happy I would be if my whole entire life was inside.”

In Highland Park, Hayden Freedman and her partner, Kyle Smithers, walk their cat, Zephyr, up and down their quiet street, usually once a week. Sometimes they bring their dog, Ivy, who treats the walk more as a cooldown than a workout. (She runs separately with Smithers.)

Zephyr, left, is given a snack while Ivy , right, sniffs Zephyr after going on an evening walk with owners Hayden Freedman and Kyle Smithers in Highland Park.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

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Over in Silver Lake, Allison Nill walks her cats around the local reservoir in a pet stroller. Safely tucked beneath the pram’s netted covering, Lana — short for Lana Del Rey, a tabby — takes in the sights while Steve, an orange American shorthair and Abyssinian mix named after Stevie Nicks, lounges in the shade.

“I call ’em our hot girl walks,” Nill said, pushing Lana and Steve in their stroller around the Silver Lake Reservoir. The sunset-hour routine helps relax her when she feels anxious. “Most nights, it’s just [Lana] and I.”

Meanwhile, Beachwood Canyon residents David Atrakchi and Sophie Meister, both actors and producers in the film industry, take their Bengal cat, Taita, for hikes near the Hollywood Reservoir, Bronson Canyon and even Joshua Tree. Taita prances along rock walls and rolls in the dirt, meowing with his tail held high.

Taita saunters along a rock wall near the Hollywood Reservoir.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

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“When he has his tail up, he’s happy,” Atrakchi said on a recent hike overlooking the reservoir.

The practice comes with benefits and risks. Dr. Kate Blair, a feline veterinarian at the Cat Hospital in Marina Del Rey, said it comes down to knowing your cat.

“For the right cat, I think it’s a great thing. That’s the key, is, not every cat will enjoy spending time outdoors on a walk,” Blair said. Confident, curious cats may do well, but cats who like predictable environments may be fearful. “It’s not something to force by any means.”

David Atrakchi and Sophie Meister walk their 3-year-old Bengal cat Taita on a trail near Hollywood Reservoir.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

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Mental enrichment is the biggest health benefit “by far,” Blair said. Under-stimulated cats may have an increased risk of obesity and urinary problems, and the ability to explore the sounds, scents and textures of the outdoors is one way to provide that enrichment.

There’s also a small exercise benefit, but remember: You aren’t walking a dog, Blair said.

“A very successful cat walk can be five minutes,” Blair said. “They go outside, they smell a bush, they look at some birds, they get to make a few choices on their own. You’re following their lead, and then you go back home.”

That’s what a walk looks like with Freedman and Smithers’ cat, Zephyr: a short, leisurely stroll up their street, with plenty of pauses for Zephyr to rest on the sidewalk or scratch a tree.

“Are you ready to go back?” Freedman said on a recent evening, noticing Zephyr had turned around. “All right, well, he’s ready to go back.”

Rescues in L.A. tend to discourage cat walking, said Gwendolyn Mathers, the executive director at Pasadena’s Tail Town Cats, a cat cafe and adoption center that partners with Kitten Rescue Los Angeles, one of L.A.’s largest shelters. Tail Town Cats doesn’t exclude adopters who consider walking their cats. However, they advise caution due to the many uncontrollable factors that could spook a cat outdoors like cars, dogs and wildlife.

“That’s what this is all about,” Mathers said. “What do you have control over?”

If a cat panics, Mathers said, anything could happen, including losing the pet.

“Anyone who has wrangled a scared cat knows it’s not just like picking up a dog and holding them,” Mathers said. “They are clawing you to get away because, to them, that is a life-and-death situation.”

Luke described a similar experience during one of her earliest walks with Gnocchi. While holding Gnocchi, a large street cleaning truck whipped down the street and startled him into clawing away.

“He never claws me,” Luke said. “I held him as hard as I could, and he went … he just was gone like a flash.”

Luke found him in a neighbor’s driveway. Afterward, she ensured Gnocchi always left the house with a collar in addition to the harness.

Allison Nill walks her two cats Lana and Steve (not shown) around the Silver Lake Reservoir. Lana comes running down the stairs of Nill’s apartment when she hears the word “walk.”

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

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Other cat walkers take precautions too. When Atrakchi and Meister hike with Taita, they carry a sturdy, mesh backpack in case Taita gets tired or nervous around dogs. Gnocchi is on a flea prevention plan, Zephyr wears an air tag and Nill’s pram gives Lana and Steve a safe enclosure.

Nill, a digital creator and actor, got her first pet stroller in a brand deal about a year ago. After one walk, Lana was hooked. She would climb into the basket on her own, meowing, purring and rolling on her back. Steve isn’t as consistently interested in the ride as Lana, but if he makes his way to the stroller, Nill takes him along too.

Her other two cats ride along less regularly. Vinny, short for Vincent van Gogh, gets nervous and prefers shorter, quieter walks, and Macaroni, named after Fleetwood Mac, makes the stroller a tight squeeze for two cats. If a friend joins Nill for the walk, the extra hands help her take them all out in two strollers.

Even in a stroller instead of a harness, people are just as surprised to see her cats out and about.

Allison Nill pets her cat Lana during a walk around the Silver Lake Reservoir.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

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“ I’ve had people be like, ‘Oh my God, how old?’ And I’m like, ‘Uh, like, 5 and a year and a half,’” Nill said. “Then they look inside. They’re like, ‘What the heck, that’s a cat.’”

The routine doubles as exercise for Nill and enrichment for the cats, she said: “Kill two birds with one stone.”

“ They get to smell the reservoir and all the trees, and it’s close to home,” Nill said. “ I can just walk out my door, do an hour loop and then that’s the perfect amount of time for them.”

If you’re considering walking your cat, many who’ve done it offered the same tips: Start slow, don’t force anything and follow your cat’s lead.

“We started outside our building, by the pool, by the gardens, then in the street, and then we went to here, on different hikes,” Atrakchi said. Every hike is at Taita’s pace: “Very slow,” Meister said.

Be prepared: If you take your cat outdoors, they may expect it regularly. “It’s like Pandora’s box,” Atrakchi said. “Once you open it, you have to continue doing it, because they will want to go out.”

Sophie Meister carries 3-year-old Bengal cat Taita in a backpack while hiking a trail near Hollywood Reservoir. It’s important to Atrakchi and Meister that Taita has a safe space.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

To do so safely, Blair suggested collaring and keeping cats close on a well-fitted harness. Also, avoid walking at dawn and dusk, when coyotes are active. Beware of lilies, which are toxic to cats; even chewing the leaves or licking pollen off their fur while grooming can be fatal. And talk to your veterinarian about a parasite prevention plan to combat fleas and other pests.

Cats “can have a very happy, healthy life without ever going for a walk outdoors,” Blair said. There are other ways to provide enrichment, like rotating toys every day to stimulate exploration, using puzzle feeder dishes to satisfy hunting behaviors and playing videos for your cat showing birds or fish. (Just make sure they don’t try to catch them.)

But cat walking seems to enrich owners’ lives too.

“It gives you a different perspective on your block,” Freedman said. “With Zephyr, it’s like you can really appreciate all the little things, because he is interested in every leaf, and every stick, and every bug. It’s like a moment of zen.”

“A moment of Zeph,” Smithers agreed.

What would it look like to have all of your needs met?

That’s the question filmmaker Shatara Michelle Ford’s asks in their film, Dreams in Nightmares. As three Black queer friends take to the road to search for the fourth member of their group, they navigate the ups and downs of love, identity, and what it means to truly feel seen.

Shatara joins the show to break down how Dreams in Nightmares went from an idea about the Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas to a journey of self-discovery.

Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

This episode was produced by Alexis Williams. It was edited by Neena Pathak. Engineering support came from David Greenburg. Our Supervising Producer is Cher Vincent. Our Executive Producer is Barton Girdwood. Our VP of Programming is Yolanda Sangweni.