A Fallen Angel - a photo on Flickriver

A Fallen Angel

It brings me great sadness to announce that our family pet "Leeloo" was recently run over by a careless driver speeding who didn't even stop to check, inform, or render aid to our cat or in that matter slam on their brakes.

Our family was at home when the incident occurred on January 7th, 2011 at which point we heard what sounded like a automobile accident. My brother happened to see and recognize the vehicle speeding away from the scene shortly after it happened as he looked out the window to see, then he looked down into the street and saw our cat lying limp and knew right away what had taken place.

We briefly confronted the people who hit and ran because they live down the street from us, but we didn't even get a sorry or good explanation except that she jumped from out of the bushes into the street. They said that they were late to the airport which is why they were apparently speeding and driving carelessly. In any case, nothing can bring Leeloo back into this world and seeing her dead was quite a shock. Her right eyeball was fully out of the eye socket and it was hard to look at and bring her to the vet knowing she was dead.

Just a couple of weeks ago our family cat with the most talkative personality and quite the human-esque psychology about herself was alive and well. Now she is dead and gone thanks to a couple of people late to the airport. I doubt that they would have stopped had they hit a child either. It's as if they could not care less.

Sure, she's a cat. I understand that and I also understand that many people do not see intelligence in animals and look at them as lesser beings not worth caring about nearly as much as humans, but regardless, this cat was truly special. She was the light of our family's life at times.

She was a gentle soul in a feline's body with the most beautiful features for a cat. Her gorgeous ginger-colored, softest long fur and her giant whiskers upon her pretty face were just attributes that were icing on the cake compared to her personality. Her discussions with us about her day's adventures, her protesting of certain things, her need to be with us, her favorite spots to sleep, her favorite games to play, her favorite things to do with us interacting as if a human member of the family. All of that will be deeply missed and now a void in our hearts exists because of the loss.

She is an angel that has fallen from this existence and an angel nonetheless that touched all of our lives. We miss you Leeloo and we love you. You were taken from us way too soon and unnecessarily. We will always remember you as best as we can, but that will never suffice completely for those pure moments of joy that you brought to our family

Leeloo: 2002 to January 7th, 2011

By the way, it was very hard for me to process and upload these last few photos that I have of her because she was such a great model for me to practice my photography with an animal subject. I truly enjoyed taking photos of her, not just because she was our pet, but because of her cooperation and easy attitude about it all.

However, I did feel that putting them onto my Flickr stream for others to hear about the events that unfolded and to publish her essence to the world, as well as bringing her memory into permanence was a thoughtful and therapeutic way of dealing with the loss. Hopefully, her life was not lost in vain and that our family or someone else's can learn from the incident and at the very least slow down when in neighborhoods where children and pets live.

Also, there is one video of her that was recorded and posted on YouTube from just the other freakin' day. I was hoping to record more of her unique behavior, mannerisms, and human-esque personality, but alas I cannot do that anymore and my memory of her will have to do for all of eternity. In any case, here is a link to her YouTube debut and swan song that became a semi-worldwide sensation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrXSaMk5orY You can really get a sense of her mystique and personality from the short clip, but still I wish I had more.

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Taken on: November 24, 2010

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Camera: OLYMPUS OPTICAL CO.,LTD C4100Z,C4000Z, f/2.8, 1/13 sec, 9.1mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	OLYMPUS OPTICAL CO.,LTD C4100Z,C4000Z
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.077 sec (1/13)
Focal Length:	9.1mm
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 7.0
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