Macy - a cat of Barrow; a young woman of India who loved cats remembered on this day

Here is Macy again, peeking over the knee of Gabe Tegoseak.

In August of 2007, I made my first trip to India to attend the Hindu wedding of my niece, Khena Swallow, to Vivek Iyer of Bangalore. In their tradition, the reception takes place the night before the wedding. There, I met scores of Vivek's relatives, beginning right away with his cousin Ganesh, who immediately befriended me and shortly thereafter brought his sister, Soundarya, to my table. Upon seeing her, I felt a special connection, as though she were not a stranger but someone I had known forever. I dismissed this as nonsense. There was a third sibling there, Sujitha, of classic beauty.

I wanted to know all three, Soundarya especially, due to this feeling of connection. Yet I reasoned that the short minutes we would spend visiting this night and possibly a few more at the wedding the next day would be all we would ever spend together. I would return to Alaska and that would be that. The next day after the wedding feast, Soundarya invited me to take a walk, but called herself "Sandy." On that walk, we met a kitten and that was that.

We stayed in near constant contact after and became close confidants. She often sought my advice in her search for love. I lack such wisdom but did tell her a few relevant stories about courting Margie. I promised her that when she found her man, I would return and photograph her wedding. She found him. I kept my promise. And always, somewhere, there was a cat involved.

Three years ago yesterday, her husband Anil Kumar, lost his life in a car crash. Three years ago today Soundarya Anil Kumar, my beloved soulfriend and muse, chose to follow him. In March of 2012, I returned to India for Sujitha's wedding. Although nothing has come together yet, Ganesh, who I inspired to became a photographer, hopes to marry soon.

Somehow, I hope to return to photograph his wedding, too.

Gabe and I do simultaneous selfies together beneath the whale

It is 5:05 PM and the Iñupiat Heritage Center has closed but there are a few people still lingering in the office and I have a couple of minutes to borrow their wireless and make this quick post. A little bit ago my young and talented friend filmmaker Gabe Tegoseak stopped by to return a battery and battery charger I had loaned him and Dustinn Craig for a short satirical movie Gabe created and Dustinn is helping him with. Gabe took a picture of us together out in the main hall of the Iñupiat Heritage Center and I took a picture of his camera with us on it as he did so. I got the background in better focus then I got us, but that's okay because we all live in the background anyway.

I might note that one of the best joys I get as a photographer is when I walk into someone's house and see one or more of my pictures hanging on the wall. I get that joy when I walk into this place, as I am greeted not only by the big whale hanging overhead but by photos of elders I took in the early 90s, maybe a couple from the late 80s. Most of them are gone now. Viky Solomon, heritage Center receptionist strolled through just at the moment Gabe and I took our pictures together.

Text posted at 6:03 PM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - day 55 and counting.