A gift I made for my mother in December of last year. It features two of her most beloved late pets.

The dachshund, Lacie, passed 2 years ago on Thanksgiving after succumbing to lung cancer. She was about 17 years old. The kitten, Gizmo, passed on Christmas eve 2021 from complications relating to a congenital heart defect. She was just over 1 year old.

Both of their passings hurt Ma deeply, and they hurt me too. My family adopted Lacie when I was a little kid, and I was one of several people who helped raise newborn Gizmo after her mother abandoned her.

I haven"t really uploaded anything this year - mix of personal baggage and an exponentially higher workload - so here"s this. I miss my baby girls. They were among the most emotionally intelligent animals I"ve ever had the pleasure of knowing personally. It hurts just to look at this.