In Loving Memory of Trixie Gunville
Trixie was loved from her first minute: her family greeted her as a newborn kitten born from an already-loved mother. Everyone knew that Trixie was a permanent part of their lives moving forward. She captured hearts with her kitten curiosity, gentle nature, and affectionate spirit. While her mother found a new home on a family farm, Trixie remained and would grow into so much more than a "pet," she became family.
Something has always been different about Trixie. In ways that transcend other cat behaviors and characteristics, Trixie was exceptionally lovable, generously cuddly, and deeply caring. She was a cat who seemed to understand being close as its own kind of language: she did not simply enjoy affection toward her, she distributed it freely and without reservation.
Perhaps the relationship she shared with her human family's son, Cooper was the most revealing of her capacity for love. Trixie became something of a second mother to him: quietly keeping watch over her little human friend. When Cooper went into the bathroom for a bath or shower, Trixie stationed herself outside the door and waited patiently until he emerged. It was a simple ritual, repeated so many times that it became part of the fabric of their lives. Her humans believed that wherever Cooper went, Trixie belonged nearby. There was no training and no expectation of reward for her: it was Trixie being Trixie.
She will be remembered in many ways, but most importantly she was attentive, devoted, and loving. She kept her family close to her and extended affections beyond any one person. She loved to cuddle. She wanted to settle-in beside her family in their activities of all types, and one couldn't help but smile as they watched her make herself part of whatever was happening. When she was not curled up with someone she loved, she could often be found seeking another kind of comfort: the out-stretched luxury of finding the perfect patch of sunshine in a bedroom or the necessary additional warmth of nestling herself above one of the house's heater vents. As if a supernatural power, she knew how to find the warmest places in the house; she may not have known it, but she became the warmest part of the home herself.
Trixie leaves behind a legacy measured countless small acts of love: the soft weight of a cat settling beside someone, the quiet companionship of a sunny afternoon, the patient presence outside a bathroom door, and the comfort of knowing that someone was always nearby. Her family is forever changed by the affectionate love Trixie provided liberally, and they will remember all the way she cuddled, watched, followed, and cared.
Trixie was never merely a pet. She was a beloved member of the family, a gentle guardian, and a constant source of comfort whose presence made home feel more like home. Trixie’s greatest gift was simple: she was always there, and she always had room for one more cuddle.
