Goodbye, My Friend
In August 2014 I agreed to help a 14-week-old kitten off of the euthanasia list at the shelter. A volunteer from the rescue offered to bring him to me since she worked very close to the shelter and after office hours she showed up with a terrified kitten in a carrier. That was the first time I met Mary Fink, and we’ve been friends since then, with a special bond around the kitten who grew up to be Basil.
Through rescue, TNR and transporting cats here or there we got to know each other, and when she saw my art and merchandise online she started buying gifts for friends from me. When she came to my open houses she got to know Mimi and her wonderful adult kittens and eventually all my cats, and Aunt Mary always brought gifts of their favorite foods! She was always ready to help a cat any way she could, and daily shared cats for adoption and spay/neuter and vaccine clinics and benefit events from all rescues and shelters.
In 2022 she helped me at some vendor event for animals where she was there for fun, and then at other animal benefit event, and then voluntarily showed up when I set up at the Carnegie Farmers Market every Sunday morning through the summer, helping me set up all the many things I’d made and keeping things organized, then taking it all apart and packing it up until the next weekend.
And so on for all 20 or so, at times weekly, events from March to November from 2022 to September 2025, at Woofstock, which is where we are in this photo. She made it so much easier, and fun. We always had a lot to talk about then and still we messaged almost daily. She came as a friend to my open house weekend before last, the last time I saw her, and was thrilled to give Morty belly rubs, talking to Sienna and Hamlet and Bella from across the room, and hoping to see Mariposa.
I found out today she died unexpectedly at home. This will take a long time to sink in, and I’m sure I’ll pick up my phone to message her a few hundred times before it does. I hope whatever happened was quick and painless, the last thing she saw was some of her kitties twirling around her, and when she arrived in the hereafter I’m sure her beloved Jimmy jumped on her shoulder and made her sit down so he could drape himself across her lap and prevent her from moving for a couple of hours and a lot of other cats were waiting to welcome her, sure that it was their daily treat time just like it always had been.
However you might describe someone in your life, the best of those is “friend.”
She and I were of a certain age and were both Linda Ronstadt fans so I’ll share these lyrics from one of her songs.
“Goodbye My Friend”
Oh we never know where life will take us
I know it’s just a ride on the wheel
And we never know when death will shake us
And we wonder how it will feel
So goodbye my friend
I know I’ll never see you again
But the time together through all the years
Will take away these tears
It’s okay now
Goodbye my friend.
(PS: thanks Carol Kovach for taking this photo!
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That’s so very sad, I’m sorry to hear about your friend.
Thanks so much. Others have been trapping her cats in her house, I made a list of all her cats with photos and confirmed number and status with her veterinarian so they’d have something to go by. They are at a rescue an hour away. I’ll be visiting them one day this week.
I am so sorry, Bernadette, to read about the loss of your friend Mary. I had lunch with a friend earlier today, and I know friends are the flowers in the gardens of our lives. I don’t think I could survive without the few that I have. May she rest in peace and spend eternity with her beloved pets. You were so kind to write this lovely tribute to her. Hugs and prayers, Janet
Thank you, Janet. They are my chosen family. It’s still a shock that I’m not messaging with her or planning for the next vendor event. But I have been compiling information about her cats for my friends who were trapping them today and the rescue that’s taking them, and that would mean more to Mary than anything.
How awful…. I am so sorry Bernadette. She sounds like a wonderful person with a great heart.
Thank you, Lynda, she was, especially where cats were concerned.
So sorry about your friend
Cindy
I am so sorry for the loss of your friend. XO
B. I am very sorry. True friends are hard to find and I know Mary is, and always will
be, one to you. She’s watching over you now from heaven. My sympathies to you and any
family members Mary left behind. L
Thanks, Laura, Mary didn’t let too many people into her life and I’m glad she found she could trust me. I really enjoyed our messaging and appreciated her help at shows. She leaves a pretty big space.
I’m so sorry to learn of the loss of your friend, Bernadette. Purrs from us for peace and comfort.
Thanks, Leah. It’s so hard for her life to be cut short like this and I know her kitties are missing her. I’m glad we could be friends.
So sorry. Friend are so hard to loose ~
)))hugs(((
Yes, she leaves an open space here, and I think even my kitties will miss her.
I’m so sorry! Another tragedy in your life. Sending meows of love to you.
Yes, I’m so glad I have the cat rescue community we worked with to help take care of the cats. Her cousin contacted me and it’s good to talk with her too.