I don’t want to jump on that 2020 Year-of-Tragedy bandwagon, because for me there have been so many silver linings. But I can’t deny there has been a lot of tragedy, a lot of lost lives: human, and cat, and dog to name a few. So, I stand here looking for a few more silver linings. In my 11th year of operating the petcare rodeo, Front Range Pet Care, LLC, in Boulder County, Colorado, I’ve witnessed the loss of more cats and dogs in the past year than the previous 10 years in total. Some at a distance, via a phone call or text, and a few way too close and in person. The loss of each and every one touches a nerve, and for better or worse, I never grow hardened to the loss. Some I saw coming; some blindsided me. It seems we are, all of us, always far too young to die.

I’m offering my salute to 12 cats and dogs I’ve had to say goodbye to in 2020. It is tragic, but it is also joy. I choose to conjure each one for their goofy humor, the love and the joy they elicited. They all have a story, a wonderful and smile-inducing history. A life, a family of loved ones. From the first week of January 2020 to December 31, 2020, here they are: