Tonk

My sweet majestic boy. I did not expect to become your end of days ally and yet am so honored to have been chosen by you. 

I started my day at the cat rescue in my usual manner. Asking which cats were ill or needing special attention so I could sit with them and do my best to calm them with my presence. I often used music and my unique form of hands on healing if the cat would tolerate my touch. Mostly I just watched and observed, looking for their cues and direction. Cat speak is often quiet and private requiring my utmost attention. 

In a room with three extremely shy and withdrawn cats hiding in individual towers I was trying to draw one of them out when I felt something brush my leg. It startled me so that I almost jumped. I didn't expect to see a cat because I was told there were only three in the room. Yet there was the most gorgeous cat I had ever seen. Not withdrawing, not cowering, not furtively watching my every move but rather standing on two hind legs to nuzzle my hip with his front paws and ample mane of hair. I looked down and met his eyes and we both knew he was mine. 

Tonk was a sick kitty and I was told that only with extensive testing and expensive intrusive surgical exploration could a concrete diagnosis be made but all signs showed a terminal condition with multiple organ failure to come. He was not adoptable and likely to spend his life in hospice within the shelter itself. So I took him home. Crafted an agreement with the shelter where I paid an adoption fee as a donation and brought him with me to live out his days. We had just over 5 months together and in that span of time he proved what a regal soul he was. We took a road trip to a cottage where he could sit in the window and watch the woodland birds. He snuggled into my lap at every opportunity and I poured all my love and pride back into his fragile body. 

When it was time to let him go I cried over his still body as if I would never be whole again and thought I would be sick forever without him by my side. Draped over his small body I felt a flutter on my pant leg and looked down to see only the sterile floor of the vet's office. But I knew. Tonk was never going to leave my side. 

I miss you my sweet boy and every cat I meet pays tribute to the high bar you set. Thank you for loving me so and letting me love you in return.