M&M, 1998-2013

Born, as near as the vet could estimate, May 5, 1998, M&M took her last breath on April 5, 2013. She had been my constant, daily companion for 15 years, except for the few trips I made, one in 2001 when I entrusted her to the care of my nextdoor neighbor and the others when I boarded her at a veterinary clinic. I don't have any pictures of her as a tiny kitten. The day she came into my life, at age 2 weeks, she was 7 inches long, tip of nose to tip of tail, and weighed 7 ounces. Most probably she was the daughter of a feral cat and born in the woods near Kentucky's Rough River. She was found in a paper sack, abandoned in a shed near a resort cabin, and brought to me in a milk crate with a Beanie Baby by the contractor who was repairing my roof after the massive April 16, 1998, hailstorm in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I began photographing her after I got my digital camera in 2002. Below are some highlights from those hundreds of photos. M&M's brave, affectionate, scrappy little heart stopped about noon on Friday, April 5, 2013, as a beloved veterinarian was doing his best to save her life. There is no medicine to repair the hole she has left in my own.

Spring on the ground

and in the trees.

Forsythia in bloom

Usually out in sunny profusion by February, the forsythia hedge alongside the Lipscomb University campus finally blossomed out for Easter weekend. And a rose branch was optimistically unfolding new foliage, too. One of the coldest winters in recent memory may finally be coming to an end.