Dear Friends of Tux,

This month Tux wanted me to begin by thanking you for the love and support you bring him each month. He does not take this for granted and does his very best to show his appreciation when given the opportunity. Since he doesn’t get to visit with you in person regularly, he wanted you to know how he interacts with the humans he does get to see.

Tux has recently engaged himself in the morning meeting routine. Every morning at 9:30 am, all the Tabby’s Place staff and volunteers that are working that day gather in the Community Room, which Tux calls home. We gather to hear the news:  who got adopted, who moved to a new room, who is having health concerns. These in-person meetings were disbanded for over a year, and everyone is happy to gather again (safely in masks). Tux is a keen observer. As soon as he sees more than one person sit at the conference table, Tux knows that a gathering is taking place and he should be a part of it.

I’ve explained how Tux comes to greet me on the days that I work in the Community Room and settles down for a good grooming session and visit. One day this month we had an unusual interruption to our routine. I was hearing construction workers at work above my head and was a bit wary that they sounded so close. Soon our Director of Operations arrived to inform me that the crew needed to access the ceiling above the desk where I was working. Tux had just settled himself into the bed on the table to my left so I decided I’d simply move his table so as not to disturb him. We spent the remainder of the day working together in our temporary arrangement.

I remember thinking that this was an interesting break to our work routine, but I never could have imagined what our next interruption would entail.

The evening that storm Ida rolled through Ringoes, NJ, I was working the evening medical shift at Tabby’s Place. We always work in teams of at least two and my coworker and I were preparing insulin when the first tornado alert came through on our phones. Since I take a highway home, I thought it best to avoid the open roadway. I had no idea that the warning would be the first of a series of tornado and flash flood warnings for the night. By the time we were ready to leave Tabby’s Place and thought we were safe from the tornado path, the southbound 202 highway was flooded and we were stuck. That night we became a sanctuary not just for cats, but for a handful of stranded human motorists (Strays).

Our unexpected visitors sheltered in the Lobby with the kitties that call it home. I was told that the kitties were quite accommodating and welcoming. We didn’t open the Community Room to guests, but I went in to visit my feline friends once I realized that I wasn’t getting home that night to my family. Tux came right over to me on the big conference table as if he could sense my concern and anxiety. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Tux is a fabulous therapy cat. He came without coaxing and brought comfort and peace to my anxious heart.

So, thank you to Tux for being the gentleman cat of my dreams. And thank you, dear sponsor, for making his life at Tabby’s Place possible.

Tux and I hope that you too were able to safely weather the storm and find comfort in friends and family, both furry and human.

Your Correspondent,
Lisa