One of my dearest friends from back in the days we were writers at a newspaper gifted her adult daughter with a pet photography session by me. The daughter Maggie has Leona, a gorgeous Chow mix, and Señor, a cat with two-different colored eyes she's had since she was in college.

Maggie has a beautiful home in Venice near the beach and we photographed Leona and Señor there. But sadly, Señor was ailing and he looked it. By then, he was 17 and that day he didn't feel well at all. Still, we pressed on.

Señor died shortly after the photo shoot. Maggie has a picture with her and her mom and baby Señor, just a snapshot really, but one that is so important to her. And to bookend his magnificent life, because Maggie surely gifted him with a beautiful time with her for many years, we have his end-of-life photos. Sad, but a span from baby Señor to senior Señor.

I made a slideshow of the shoot and Maggie told me she watched it through tears. The song "Lovely Day" by Kathryn Ostenberg starts out, "Wouldn't you like for it to stay this good forever..."

Yes, we would. Our pets are on the planet with us for such a short time. it is nice to have a photographic record of them, something tangible to remember them by.