This picture was always hanging in my grandparents’ bedroom. I never really understood why or what was the significance. Grandpa was a devoted dog person, had very little use for a cat as a pet. My mother and aunt were the same. Grandma never gave an indication, but apparently went with the flow. Another of those lost opportunities to just ask “What is it?” and “Why do you have it on your wall?” Even with no intelligence about its provenance, I decided to keep it.

Then I “crowd sourced” the origins of the work. A colleague was kind enough to research, find, and send me the following:

So, now I know what it is. Still have no idea when Grandma and Grandpa had it hanging in their bedroom. Based on the age of the item, it may have come from either one of their parents or possibly grandparents.

In any event, I have the memory of it whenever we went to stay at my grandparents’ house for the evening or for the rare night sleep over. In the summer, were were allowed to bed down in Grandpa’s room (where this picture resided) if we were just being put to bed until we were picked up. Grandpa had a number of allergies and his room had the window air conditioner.