Relative Something

Over the last few days, I have been looking at a lot of pictures from our time on Ian’s farm. I was moved by the number of times I found Tiddles, the cat, making an appearance in the images. More often than not, he was entirely unnoticed at the time the picture was taken. I only knew him during the last week he was with us in the world, but in that time, he made a huge impression on me. He was a significant presence on the farm, daily increasing his reach, sometimes in undesirable ways. He was just beginning to discover there might be delectable morsels available up on the kitchen table. Mostly, he was perfecting his stalking skills, targeting flies while training for bigger prey, the mice it was hoped he would dispatch from the premises. All the while, he was battling a respiratory illness that seemed to alternate between better and worse, from day to day. We were serving him doses of medicine intended to treat the problem, but with absolutely no warning, and to everyone’s utter surprise, he laid down and stopped breathing on a beautiful Sunday morning. His passing brought on much sadness, but his magical spirit will be preserved in the many fond memories held by those of us who were blessed to have received some of his special attention.