Welcoming Frankie

A couple of weeks ago, we brought home Frankie, one of my friend Tracy’s beloved cats. Tracy loved her two cats Frankie and Henry, and her husband Doug, more of a dog guy, knew that loving Tracy meant opening his home and heart to her cats as well.

During Tracy’s final weeks, the normalcy and loving presence of her cats, especially Frankie’s cuddles, was a great comfort to her. I wrote about Tracy’s generous spirit a few months ago, continuing in different ways since her early April passing.

In late May, many friends of Tracy’s attended the ‘Tracy trunk show’ that Tracy started planning in early 2026 when her cancer treatments were substituted for palliative care. Tracy’s sense of style was one of her hallmarks. And her career in financial marketing meant she had a wardrobe and accessories unrivaled in today’s hybrid and more casual work environments.

Tracy enjoyed her stylish outfits and decided that many of her friends might too. The trunk show, held the day after the celebration of life for Tracy, gave dozens of friends the opportunity to take home some of her memorable outfits and accessories, with any unclaimed items were donated to charity.

Not long after, I learned that Tracy had also taken into account the future for her cats after her passing. She recognized that Doug’s travel schedule might be hard for Frankie and Henry and set aside what Doug referred to as a ‘trust fund’ to help re-home her cats.

As Doug’s travels were set to resume mid-summer, a message was shared with friends of Tracy’s to see if any cat lovers among us might want to adopt one or both of her cats. Since losing our cat Marbles in early 2023, we’ve been a one cat household, occasionally fostering a cat and visiting the shelter, but never making any permanent acquisitions.

From the first time my boys and I met Frankie on a visit to Tracy’s weekend home in 2019, we loved Frankie’s instant cuddles and curiosity. In my earlier post about Tracy, I wrote about how she taught me to notice beauty, to practice generosity, and to understand that love doesn’t stay still; it expands. Our decision to adopt Frankie has already become a living, purring reminder of all three.

Your house will always be blessed with love, laughter, and friendship if you have a cat.

Lewis Carroll

Adopting Frankie felt like one way to honor Tracy, the life she built, and the love she poured into her cats. Our other cat Peach, however, is not entirely convinced this was a good idea. He’s made his feelings known — with strategic glares when Frankie enters the room, but in a short time he’s already adjusting to this idea, tolerating her presence as she wanders through his space.

One of the hardest things about adopting Frankie is not being able to share this with Tracy. I think she’d love to hear about Frankie’s first night in our home, when she slept on John’s pillow and then his chest, settling in faster than any of us imagined. We joke about how we need to teach Frankie about the concept of ‘personal space,’ but secretly relish this sweet reminder of how Tracy’s love for Frankie brought a new source of love into our home.