Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Taking the time to say goodbye.....

Wander in Peace Tuck
January 1999- June 2009

I know the posts have been scarce but now the school year has started we can get in a routine again. But today's post is a sad one but it's one that is way past due. Right before I left on my roadtrip our cat Tuck wandered away. We had kept inside our new house at night but one night around 8:30 he was waiting by the front door when Jason came home and out he went. He never came back. We were hopeful for the first few days but apparently we live in an area that has a lot of feral dogs and so the authorities and neighbors have told us not to keep our hopes up. So today I would like to Memorialize Tuck, a great cat that traveled the world with us for 10 years. Here are some of his last moments with us; riding in the car on the way to our new house.

Back in 1999 we were living in Russia and were walking down the old Arbat downtown. We stopped by a pet store to buy large food dishes for our Great Dane Io. In the store was a cardboard box with a little black kitten in it with a sign that said "Free with donation to the temple". HE was so small and alone, and even though I am allergic to cats I had to love him. Our Great Dane was alone all day while we were at work and we had heard a companion could be good for lonely animals. We brought him home and named him after our favorite place on earth- Currituck at the Outer Banks. Io and tuck had so much fun all night long that they would sleep all day. They became best friends and Io raised Tuck like her own puppy. She was so big she would pick him up in her mouth and we could only see his head and legs sticking out. Tuck kept to himself other then to play with Io. He traveled from Russia to Virginia to Oklahoma to Luxembourg to Utah to Luxembourg to Utah to Houston and to Austin. He often pooped on the tile next to his litter box and left us many mouse surprises, but he always was there. When Io died in December of 2006 he was very depressed but soon he was our number one pet. He was Jason's special buddy when I would travel and he still left us those mousy gifts. Then he met Lilo in 2008. Again he had a sparing partner. But the wilderness of Austin was too much of a temptation. He loved the sun and stalking prey. We like to think he just wandered away because he knew it was time to go. But we love you Tuck, and we miss you. We hope wherever you are you are having fun, whether it's with Io in heaven or somewhere in the wilds of Texas.