The Tortishell Cat

Aunty Pats last goodbye

My godmother and Aunty Pat was a wonderful lady. She taught me to play piano when I was younger and had lots and lots of animals, birds, dogs and especially cats she adored cats and her cats were ENORMOUS.

She had never been a wealthy lady, divorced quite young during an era when one does not divorce, she earnt a meager living through her piano lessons to the students she adored, she bought her boys up well though and definitely kept all her animals well fed. At one visit, I think I counted 6 Huge cats draped around her tiny house, she adored them all and they her. She also loved the Big Cats, particularly tigers and had many pictures of them around her house and on top of her piano. She wrote a scathing letter to the leader of a certain country after hearing the tigers were being hunted for their aphrodisiac qualities and was an advocate of animal rights.

Sadly Aunty Pat was diagnosed with Breast cancer in the early 1990's, she was one of the first women to be given the experimental drug of Tamoxifen and credited it to extending her life. She went into remission, for a period of time but sadly two years later had to have the other breast removed and the bad news was delivered that the cancer had insidiously creeped into her bones. Aunty Pat was very strong in faith and firmly believed in the power of prayer, she had a new grandchild and again put up a very strong fight. Her beloved Basset Hound Basil died one night in 1998 and she seemed to take this as a sign and left very soon after.

Her boys did a beautiful job of her funeral, which was held at her local Perth Uniting church with close friends, ex students and family. On top of her coffin was a huge picture of a tiger, which seemed fitting to all who new her. During the service, I was sitting next to my dad, Pat was his beloved elder sister and we were in the second pew behind my cousins (her sons). The priest stopped at one stage and we heard a gasp from the back of the church, we all turned around to see what was going on and there was a big tortishell cat making its way up the centre aisle….it very happily waltzed up the aisle and when it came to our pew, it wound itself around my fathers legs and then proceeded to go to the front pew where it purred and wound itself around my cousins legs, for some time before ambling off. To say we were all shocked and astonished would be an understatement. The priest was gobsmacked and when my cousin went up to the alter he looked visibly overwhelmed and touched and said, anyone who knows my mother knows why that cat was in the church just now. It is something I will never forget.