Featured in The Sejourner

This is the same pose and is posted just because the look on her face was different and she seemed at peace and was purring.

Binky, ( the cat ) came into my life 10 years ago. I had suffered a car accident and my Mother said that a pet would be good therapy for me. A comfort, companion and friend. We went to the animal shelter and when Binky saw me she reached through the bars of her cage and began tapping me on the head. My Mother said she: “Chose me.” Over the years we have developed quite a friendship and Binky even developed a likeness for modeling in my photographs. She would chose when she was ready and generally lay down right in the middle of a set I had arranged for a self portrait or still life. I would know that she was ready for her shoot and photograph her.
However, over the last 6 months we have endured hardships. There have been vet visits, antibiotics, diet changes, and alternative treatments. The end result being that they have all failed. I am watching my friend suffer and the quality of life no longer exist. The gleam in her no longer be there and the glances she gives me that speak. A look that no one wishes to see on a pet or human. The decision for me in what I know I must do is, of course, hard it is hard for me both from my spiritual and emotional levels. However, the moral aspect to me is not to act in a selfishness manner but to chose to stop what I see as constant suffering.
I have the shell of my friend now in my hands you see. So this photo shoot is the last I will ever do with my friend. The photograph is very special to me not only for all the reasons mentioned but the pose. I was really the only one who could hold her. The way I am holding her was her favorite and I wanted a memory of that. She will always live in my heart.

Kodak

SP

Model: My best friend binky.