Tigger Van Allen / Berkun
1990 - 2001
Tigger was an orange cat (we think a maine-coon), with
stripes, a thick layer of fur, and a big fuzzy tail. Amy adopted Tigger when he
was about 9 months old, while she was living in Orlando Florida, in 1990. Thus
began a very special close and unique relationship between cat and owner.
Between 1990 and 2000, Amy lived in more than 10
different apartments, had more than 5 different jobs, and had various friends
and people come in and out of her life, but one constant always there, was her
great friend Tigger. We just wanted to take some time to share some of what made
up Tigger, as he no doubt helped make up some part of who we are.
Its truly amazing how many adjectives would
accurately describe Tigger, these are some of them:
Stubborn, quiet, friendly, silly, mischievous, playful, loud, stubborn, miffed, intense, fiesty, defiant.
In 1992, while living in their fifth apartment
together, (in New Hyde Park), Tigger expressed to Amy that he
needed more in
his life than just having her come home at the end of the day (he did this by
meowing loudly at the front door for several hours every night), and Amy
responded by finding Tigger a new best friend, a cute little dark grey striped
north American short hair named Scuttle. Scuttle was just what the doctor ordered,
and Tigger and Scuttle became fast friends. Scuttle,
happily, is still with us, running all around our cute 2 bedroom apartment in
Farmingdale, he says hello.
Tigger was definetly not your average cat, he was
unique. He was always doing his own thing. The quote "Its no fun ignoring
you when you're not here" which we saw on a Hallmark card about a cat
missing its owner, just
a few months ago, described Tiggers mindset quite well. He knew we were there,
and he liked having us around, but he could always be depended on to be doing
his own thing. Tigger loved to ignore us all the time, well, almost all the
time, when he decided to be, he could be the cuddliest most lovable ball of fur
you could ever have in your arms.
Tigger lived in some fantastic cat apartments, and a few lousy ones. From 1996 to 1997, he lived in a great apartment in Lake Grove with a nice balcony to go out on and see some of the many pets who also lived in the complex. In August 1999 Tigger, Scuttle and Amy moved in with Todd, and in March of 2000, they all moved to a nice 2 bedroom apartment, which also had a balcony that Tigger loved to go out on. He would wait to hear the sound of the screen being opened and show right up, ready to spend a few minutes watching the trees and feel the nice breeze on the balcony.
Tigger will be missed, but always remembered as a loving, crazy, sweet, happy, silly, cat who we were always more than happy to share our lives with.