Tycoon

It was early May and I was in the second grade. We went to visit Aunt Sissy and Uncle Reese. If you happened to read the Fried Apple Pies post, they are the same ones you met there. So, on this particular visit, I refused to get out of the car when we got there. As much as I loved that place, there was one thing I really, really disliked. Uncle Reese did not shave on Saturdays and he would greet me by picking me up and rubbing my face with his whiskers. Odd custom, now that I think about it. It didn’t feel good. I was in a bad mood and decided to avoid the whole unpleasant affair by just staying in the car. Not much of a plan, really, but it was all I could think of. At the time, it never occurred to me to tell anyone why I wanted to stay in the car.

So, I sat in the car and before I knew it, I looked out the window and Uncle Reese was headed across the yard and straight for me. I was doomed. I very briefly considered locking the car doors, but I dreaded the punishment that would come from that more than I dreaded Uncle Reese and his whiskers. So, I opted for Uncle Reese. He had a surprise for me. He was so excited about the surprise that he didn’t even pick me up and rub my face. Great relief on my part.

The surprise was a baby raccoon. The mama raccoon was dead, but Uncle Reese rescued the baby and kept him for me. It was love at first sight. I had never seen anything so cute and cuddly in my life. I knew it was going to take some powerful begging to get Mama to agree to let me keep him. Uncle Reese helped me. He had built a cage for him to travel home in and told me how to take care of him and what to feed him and told me all about raccoons so I would be knowledgeable about them. He did all of that before I ever even asked Mama and Daddy if I could keep him. Uncle Reese and me – we had a plan working. He was going to help me even if Mama and Daddy said, “NO!” They did. But Uncle Reese wanted me to have that raccoon, so he persuaded them to let me take it. He told them that it would never survive without me to take care of it. He told them he had kept it just so I could have it and he would be very hurt if they refused. I got the raccoon.

We named him Tycoon. Daddy built a very large cage for him. Mama bought him a collar. Daddy found a very long chain and clipped one end to Tycoon’s collar and the other to Mama’s clothesline. Tycoon could roam around as much as he wanted without running away. It was great. My brother and I walked him on a leash and we even took him to school one day. One night Mama stepped onto the back porch and there was Tycoon, waiting at the door. He had unsnapped his chain from his collar and was waiting to come inside. I had taught him how to drink water from the faucet outside, but he really liked drinking from the bathtub faucet and that is what he wanted. I would sneak him in the house and hole up with him in the bathroom for our lessons. It never occurred to me that if Tycoon could unfasten his chain, he could also leave at will.

So, time passed and Tycoon grew up. He was about a year and a half old. That is when raccoon children normally break away from the family and become independent. Adult male raccoons are territorial and they don’t make good pets. Who knew? Not me.  One morning Tycoon hissed at Daddy and was acting unfriendly in general. I went to school, and when I got home that afternoon, Tycoon was no longer living with us. I strongly suspected that Tycoon was no longer living with anyone, but I never did ask because I too afraid of the answer. Daddy said that raccoons just don’t make good pets because they are wild animals and even though I loved Tycoon, it didn’t make him any less wild. He needed to be with other raccoons. I was mad at Daddy for getting rid of Tycoon. I stayed mad a while, which was not like me. As a rule, I didn’t hold grudges, but this was different. This was Tycoon. And even though I eventually moved on from being mad, I still missed Tycoon.

And . . . here I am again for another treatment at the Cancer Center. Treatment number four is under way! I show up for these treatments with a mixture of joy and uncertainty. I never really know how I might respond to the treatment – it has been a little different each time. But, I am oh-so-happy that after this one, I only have two to go!

One thing doesn’t change. I am very, very certain that God has my back. He has intervened for me right from the beginning of this journey. Really. Like the day I went to get my mammogram and they told me I didn’t have an appointment and wanted to reschedule me for more than a month down the road. I asked if they would just please work me in somehow and they did.

Things don’t turn out like we want them to sometimes. Like my little adventure with Tycoon – my sweet baby raccoon turned into a feisty grown up. To protect me, Daddy would not let him stay with us. I didn’t understand it at the time, but later on, I realized what a hard thing that was for him to do. This cancer journey has been a lot like that. Sometimes I just don’t “get it,” but I always know that my heavenly Father is doing what is best for me – it is a part of His plan. When I hurt, He hurts, too. But He holds me, helps me, and carries me when necessary – even when I am so incredibly human and act no better than Tycoon with all his hissing, bad attitude, and carrying on. The difference? I don’t get sent away – I get loved instead. You, too.  Really.

How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 36:7