Memorial for Gertie
My wife and I adopted our cat Gertie almost five years ago, but this week we lost her to illness. As a memorial to her this blog reviews the holiday cards we made each year featuring her.
Our 2013 holiday card was made before I became a professional pet photographer. We got married that year and I think the fact that the photo of Gertie is larger than the photo from our wedding says something about how excited we were to add her to our family.
During my first year doing pet photography I bought this fun “Santa’s Little Helper” template where you can put a Santa hat on your pet in Photoshop (thereby avoiding the humiliation of having them pose with an actual hat). The inside of the card has a photo of us on our “rummymoon”, a honeymoon focused on rum.
This New Year’s card implies that Gertie likes to loosen her tie and drink Hello Kitty champagne during the holidays. The inside of the card says “Cheers!”
Gertie’s coat coloring is called “lilac point.” We bought this purple blanket for our bed to complement her coloring and yes, that is a totally normal thing to do. The inside of the card says “Happy New Year!”
This X-mas card for 2017 features the last professional photo I took of Gertie last December before she got sick. It was sunset and golden light was streaming into our living room.
Bonus card! In 2016 I also made a Hanukkah card featuring Gertie. She’s slouching in that way cats do when they’ve just finished grooming. And that’s a real lit menorah in the background!
So that’s six holiday cards for five years of having the best, most well-behaved, sweet-natured cat in the world. Although I miss her something fierce I get a lot of comfort from looking at our past cards and remembering her when she was healthy.
Most of these photos I probably wouldn’t have taken if it weren’t for the holiday card deadline looming over me. So don’t wait to get good photos of your pet. I know it’s only April but it’s never too early to start planning your holiday cards. If holiday cards are not a tradition for you, then choose an anniversary like your pet’s birthday or their Gotcha Day/Adoptiversary as a reminder to get photos taken. Especially now that she’s gone I’m so happy I have an annual series of photos of my cat. To get started email me at PipiDiamond@gmail.com to schedule a complimentary consultation.