After getting my second vaccine shot, I was informed that Tom quietly died this afternoon. The fluid returned and his heart gave up. After watching him get weaker last week and hearing him make no noise on the way to the vet Friday, I already accepted this would likely happen.

A few months after my childhood cat died, we had a massive tornado come through that caused tons of damage and days of power outages. A day after our power returned, this random cat showed up yowling for food. We gave him food and he never left. He kept coming back every day.

I realized he was very friendly and domestic so we tried to find a potential owner that lost him in the prior horrible weather. No one claimed him or said they were missing him, so that is when he became Tom. This was in May 2008. In two weeks, I would have had him for 13 years.

We have no idea how old he really was. When we had him fixed, our vet guessed he was probably 2 years old so Tom was realistically 15 years old or so. He found me when I was mourning my childhood cat so I did everything I could to reward him for making that fateful decision.

Tom was with me through everything. My life is pretty solid right now, but it wasn't always like that. Through mine and my Mom's financial struggles, previous dreams not working out, personal life failures, and everything in between, Tom was there with me through every bit of it.

I have been so fortunate that I was able to share the last few years of his life with all of you as my Twitch career has unfolded. We've created so many memorable moments. So many of you bought the shirt that he's on and use his chat emote. So many kind words these last 2 weeks.

Tom's legacy to me though will be a few months ago when I contracted COVID-19. Tom never left my bed that first week and the few times I was able to get up, he would not allow me to be alone. He followed me everywhere. He took care of me when no one else was able to be around me.

I am jaded to many things in this world in 36 years. I don't get too excited or too down. But the loss of my animal companions is different. They do so much for us unknowingly and are so pure. I joke that I treat Tom like a king, but he's the one who treated me like royalty.

I'm extremely lucky Tom chose me nearly 13 years ago. It's going to be hard knowing he's not going to follow me to bed or be beside me when I wake up anymore. I will miss bringing him on stream and seeing you all flood the chat with his emote. My Mom especially loved seeing that.

This photo I would like to share with you was taken after I woke up with him beside me for what turned out to be the final time 10 days ago.

I love you, Tom. We will all remember you forever.