A cream-colored tomcat taught me what comforts to claim with COPD
Comforts are steady ways to rock ourselves through difficult days
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Living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has made me pay closer attention to the small, unexpected comforts that steady us. The quiet moments that teach us how to accept help, how to rest, and how to let gentleness find us. I didn’t recognize those lessons when I was young, but they were already being planted in the ordinary days of my childhood.
One of them arrived in the form of a very large, cream‑colored tomcat.
Growing up, I was told my father didn’t like cats. So, when I wanted to play with one, I’d visit the neighbor’s house and sit with their tabby. One evening, as my mother and I walked home from that visit, a big cream‑colored tomcat fell into step beside us. He didn’t meow or ask for attention. He simply walked with us, steadily and sure, as if he had decided we were worth accompanying.
He followed us to the porch but stopped short of coming inside. By morning, he seemed to have disappeared — until Mother found him tucked beneath the corn crib across the road, watching the house as if studying us. Then came the surprise: my father, the man who supposedly didn’t like cats, came back from the barn with warm milk. He crouched beside the corn crib and coaxed the tomcat out with a patience I had never seen him show any barn animal.
His effort paid off. Tom, as we came to call him, became part of the family. My father even taught him to rock in the splint‑bottomed rocking chair. Tom would settle into that chair and rock himself with the confidence of someone who knew he belonged. If anyone else sat there, he’d try to claim the chair back as if comfort was something he had earned and wasn’t willing to surrender.
COPD teaches us to claim comfort, too
As I live with COPD now, I find myself thinking about Tom and that rocking chair. He didn’t apologize for needing comfort. He didn’t explain himself. He simply claimed the space that made him feel steady and safe.
COPD asks us to do something similar, which is to recognize what helps us breathe easier and to protect it without guilt. A few comforts many of us learn to claim include:
- A dependable chair or resting spot; a place where breathing feels easier, such as near a window, with good airflow, or simply familiar enough to calm the body.
- A pace that honors the lungs; not rushing, not pushing, but moving in a rhythm that keeps breath steady rather than strained.
- Tools that support breathing; a nebulizer, inhaler, pulse oximeter, or oxygen setup that becomes part of the daily landscape, rather than something to hide.
- Help offered without fanfare; accepting the grocery bag carried to the porch, the slower walking pace, or the gentle check‑in from someone who cares.
- Routines that keep anxiety low; morning rituals, medication schedules, or quiet moments that help the lungs stay calm and predictable.
These comforts aren’t indulgences. They’re lifelines and small, steady ways of rocking ourselves through the harder days.
Tom didn’t rush into our home. He watched, waited, and approached when he felt safe. COPD care is much the same. We don’t have to fix everything at once. We simply keep choosing the small comforts that help us breathe a little easier.
And sometimes, the very thing we thought we didn’t want — like my father and that cat — becomes the thing that teaches us how to live with more tenderness.
Note: COPD News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of COPD News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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