This drawing celebrates Margaret’s return home after her first brain surgery and rehabilitation therapy—a happy moment for her, and for the cats. A cat’s face smiles naturally, but I think they had big smiles when she came home, and I know she did. Cats are not noisy, like dogs, but somehow they communicate love all the same, the gentle rub against the leg, the throaty purr, the longing look that tells you, “Welcome home, we love you.” All of that and more is reflected in this drawing.

And sometimes, when I see Tiz Whiz looking out the tack room window expectantly in the morning, I wonder if she thinks, “When is Margaret coming back?” I think so. Love is not only what we give animals, it is what they give back, in their own way.

Every morning Margaret and I would have coffee in the tack room with our barn crew, a pleasant part of our routine. The coffee came from Dunkin’ Donuts in Pleasant Valley, together with their trademark donuts. One day, to Margaret’s delight, Tiz Whiz got hold of one, batting it as though it were a mouse before taking a bite. For Margaret, I drew all sorts of silliness for the cats involving Dunkin’ Donuts, from waiting in line to applying for employment. I drew Tiz Whiz roller-skating home with our order; Ruby filming a commercial, donut held in the air like a trophy; and any number of other scenarios that I thought would amuse her.

Margaret’s birthday was November 1st, and she always got presents from the cats. Well, I bought them, but the cards always read “From the cats.” In the tack room, we sometimes shared a bottle of champagne with Miguel and the barn workers and whoever was riding that day, and Tiz Whiz would lie down with her head on Margaret’s leg, waiting for a lick of cream cheese.

Once Margaret’s illness took hold, she no longer wanted to go out to dinner at all, let alone to celebrate, and I’d try to get her something she really liked, Scottish smoked salmon sliced paper-thin, for example, and Kit Kat would sit down and accept a few tiny morsels as her part of the celebration.

They never really gave her flowers, but if they could have they would.