Memorial to a Tiger

When I was in 5th grade, the age of 10 as my mother says, my father came home from work with a surprise that none of us were expecting. He had heard the cries of a small kitten coming from the inside of a drain pipe that came from underneath the sidewalk outside his office. After some coaxing with food, he found a small kitten small enough to hide in the palm of his hand. The kitten looked much like a gray scale tiger and we all grew rather fond of the little guy quickly. We named him Tiger.

It was the duty of my brother and I to teach the little cat the ways of a warrior, so we continually gave it wrestling lessons and gave that cat an edge in the ways of defending itself. When it was about three years of age it went missing. My sister who was a major animal lover convinced my dad to go looking for him around the neighborhood and much to my surprise, the came home with cat in hand. It had been found in the neighbors tree with it's foot caught in the branches, it had been there for two to three days until my sister rescued it.

A year or so later, we added a dog to the family that scared the cat and it eventually ran away. One early morning while I was getting ready to start my paper route I saw a rather familiar cat walking down the street, and it was not afraid of me. I approached it and was able to pick it up and quickly discovered that I had found the 1 week long missing cat, Tiger. I returned it home immediately before I started my route.

The cat was fixed and decided it would stay at home and rule the neighborhood. Some days on my way out the door I would see an enormous cat get laid out, by a cat half its size. I knew it's childhood training had paid off and Tiger was a force to be reckoned with in the neighbor hood, and he ruled it.

Years past and the cat grew old, new additions came to the family. A young kitten named Nala, the annoyance in Tiger's side that grew to be a companion. He learned to tolerate the young restless kitten and taught it in the wisdoms of his age. She in turn, learned to respect Tiger and learn from him.

It was the night of Tuesday, September 30, 2008. Sixteen and a half years since Tiger was abandoned as a runt of a kitten. Sixteen and a half years when Tiger first saw the light of day. Health issues had turned the muscle and sometimes fat into pure skin and bones. He was loved and cared for the whole night, pet and scratched with returns of his unforgettable purr as he recognized he was loved. A clean towel was placed in his bed and he was set down for a nights rest.

Dawn, Wednesday, October 1, 2008. Just before waking Tiger breathed his last and passed peacefully in his sleep. No growling of pain, no horrific accident. Just old age and a cats legacy left behind. The fearless cat, the fighter, the companion the mold for what a cat should be - 16 1/2 years to date and never forgotten. To a Tiger, to a Legacy and to a friend.