Seven years ago today, I shot the Featured Image, using Leica Q. Bruce, who shared residence with Guido and Little, waited for his owner. The previous week, I got a glimpse of the woman walking her dog (Dakota), and the short-legged kitty ambling along with them. What a wonderful sight, and I had to know more. Scouting about led me to one of the neighborhood’s handsomest—and most beloved—cats.
A few years later, over the Christmas holidays, Dakota passed away, That put an end to the dog-cat walks, until some months later when Bruce’s owner—now one of our favorite neighbors—rescued the amicable Apple. In some dictionary somewhere, sweetness is defined by a description of that dog. Sigh. She suddenly passed away last week, as was explained yesterday. Bruce is gone, too; he vanished over Memorial Day weekend 2023.
Like Guido and Little, Bruce was a rescue—across the street from his future home. The cat was big-bellied and appeared ready to pop out a litter of kittens. The soon-to-be owner rushed him to the shelter, which rang before she arrived home with unexpected news: The feline was male and bloated with worms. He would spend the next two months sequestered in a bedroom, rehabilitating and adapting to a home with two other tiger tabbies and a dog.
Come home, Bruce. We’re waiting, and now would mean something special to your owner and cat companions.
Photo vitals: f/1.7, ISO 100, 1/800 sec, 28mm; 6:40 p.m. PDT.