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The Quintessence of Tuxedo

I always wanted to live in the country. I just knew there was a country girl inside me that was stuck in the city. Finally, in 1995, with great determination, I found a realtor who was willing to help me find a place with some acreage and a reasonable house. At last, I found a nice double-wide modular on 5 acres with fabulous fencing, a four stall barn, and arena that was close to my price range. It was fenced and cross-fenced, ideal to rotate livestock on the various pastures, all of this and only a 20-mile commute to work. Perfect! So, the end of June 1995, I moved to the country with my two adult children (then 20 and 23).

We settled into country life very quickly, picking up a goat and Holstein calf at the auction. I had been given a horse while volunteering at a therapeutic riding facility, the Stables, so we brought her home. All was good on the home front, three dogs and two cats, our little old Siamese kitty (12 years old at that time) and my daughter's cat that came home with her after her marriage ended.

In August of that year, while I was at work, a friend of mine from the Stables brought us a kitten and dropped it off with my daughter. "Do you think your Mom would mind having another cat?" she asked, knowing full well that my daughter would take him in a second. I tried to protest but decided that he could stay if he was an outdoor cat. Tuxedo He was a cute little guy, just barely 6 weeks old, if that-black with white paws and a white belly and throat. It looked like he had a tuxedo on, hence his name-Tuxedo. He has been with us ever since.

Tuxedo stayed outside most of the time. The resident cats were not all too fond of him anyway. He was too bouncy and full of energy. The weeks turned into months and Tuxedo was growing up fast. Before we knew it, it was Christmas. We put up a tree, artificial fortunately, because we could not keep Tuxedo out of the tree. It came down at least twice and maybe three times as I recall. Ornaments all over the place. He certainly knew how to annoy me.

We were not only collecting animals, but also stray people. One of my son's friends, Tom, had been staying with us for a while after he was discharged from the Army. He was driving a big rig long distance, so he was only there occasionally, even then, only for a night or two. Well, Tom, decided that since he had a wife and two kids in California, that he probably ought to move them to Colorado so they could try being a family. Tom didn't keep in touch very well when he was on the road, so we were never quite sure when he was expected to be in town

Then in February of 1996, I was diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time. The first occurrence had been 12 years previous and had been caught early so I only had to have the lump removed and had radiation treatments. I hadn't really thought about it too much since then. But now it was back, same side as before, so I would have to have a mastectomy this time. To complicate matters, the day before I went in for surgery, my son's friend, Tom, arrived with his wife and two children, they needed to stay with us for awhile-all in a three-bedroom house. He brought this poor woman and two little children over, essentially dropped them off and was on the road within a couple of days. I went in for surgery the day after they arrived. It is a fairly simple operation, all things considered, outpatient surgery. I was home that afternoon, feeling physically not too bad, but emotionally a wreck. This time I would have to undergo chemo therapy.

The house was so crowded, Tom's wife and two kids were there all day, she had no way to go anywhere and no one to take care of the children if she were to get a job. It was February, so it was too cold for the children to play outside. So, to escape and have some time to myself, I stayed in my bedroom most of the time. I needed to rest anyway. I wasn't dealing with the preschoolers very well either. Now, I like children mind you, but I was dealing with a lot of emotional stuff at that point and two crying, fussy children were not quite my cup of tea. So, I would lay in bed most of the time and watch television or sleep.

Tuxedo sensing the turmoil and my distress came to my rescue. He started coming in quite often which was a big deal for him. He didn't like having company, and he let me know it. He would vanish for a couple of days at a time, just hiding out in the barn. But instead, he would hide out in my bedroom with me, lay on the bed, and hold my hand, literally hold my hand, one paw on top and one paw on the bottom. We became great pals over the next few weeks of my recovery. Tom and his family found a place to rent and they moved out after a couple of weeks. Peace at last, I have the house and time to myself. I could have some freedom. (I know I could have anyway, I just didn't want to deal with people at that time of my life.)

Now Tuxedo and I are best of friends, he technically owns me, rather than me owning him. He comes and goes as he pleases. He still doesn't like company, but when we are alone, he is right on top of me. He doesn't just sit on my lap in a nice little ball, he drapes himself over my lap and stretches his legs out as far as they can go, and still likes to hold hands. We take walks, he is always out with me when it is time to feed the horses, and he tells me in no uncertain terms when it is time for him to go outside. He makes me laugh at daily, which is probably part of the reason that I am in extremely good health now and plan on living a long full life.

If you have an animal tale that you would like to share, please send it via e-mail to info@abbeyranch.com. Animal Tales from the Heart will become a monthly feature of abbeyranch.com as long as we have material to publish. Abbeyranch reserves the right to edit submissions for grammar, clarity, and to ensure content is appropriate for all audiences. All stories submitted must be your original work.