Nacho is gone. Went outside to check on him and he was inside his shell dead. He was only out there an hour. I was trying to stay positive but I could see the spark in his eye wasn't there this morning. People say reptiles don't have much personality but I think those people just don't have the eyes to see. Nacho really was a sweet tortoise. His house was by the entrance to the kitchen from the living room so he saw us everyday and would climb the walls in our direction hoping for a neck scratch or some food especially his favorite - blueberries. He really loved us petting him. He would expose his neck for us to scratch him and that was a big sign he trusted us.
We got him April 2020. That was a particularly brutal year for me. That was the year before I finally got sober and I was drinking everyday, sick mentally and physically. But I felt that getting a tortoise was s good thing for me to do so after like a year of contemplation I got him. And I made the right choice. That whole year I was in between worlds. A living hell in my mind. On the edge of my limits. And while I was fighting to not lose my mind I would sit in front of his house and watch him. Sometimes for hours and his calmness and gentleness would help me. My mom died toward the end of 2020 from meth and other drugs. Her intestines rotted away and she was in the ICU for 30 day before she died alone because quarantine. I got the news and I went and sat and looked at Nacho. A little tortoise the size of your hand made me feel like things were going to be OK. Another time I had something weighing me down for almost a decade. A mistake I made that I couldn't forgive myself for. I was sitting and watching Nacho and I got the urge to pray and ask for forgiveness. I could barely finish the thought and that unmistakable divine warmth washed over me. I've detoxed from alcohol and would watch him to keep me calm. My mind races a mile a minute. It never stops from the moment I wake up to the moment I close my eyes. And he was the opposite. Slow and deliberate and gentle. Everything eventually got better and the past 16 months have been the best time in my life. It all started around when I got this little guy. He only had three moves but dammit he got them all in. These Indy tortoises could learn a thing or three from Nacho. He was exactly what I needed when I needed it. I'm grateful for the 2 years I had with him. Who would have thought a tiger and a tortoise could become best friends.