A few weeks ago, flyers began appearing around the Sheridan neighborhood of Minneapolis, and then as a photo post in Reddit’s r/cats sub. The white 8.5×11” sheets featured a color photograph of a tabby cat marked with the name Steve V, but these flyers were not missing kitty posters as you might expect.
They didn’t offer any reward or even include any contact information. Besides Steve’s extra cute photo and name, they listed the dates of her birth and, sadly, her death (June 7, 2004-August August 17, 2023), making her a very senior kitty when she died. There were also several personal details celebrating her life. In short, the papers appeared to be homemade kitty obituaries printed out and posted around the neighborhood with love.
Dealing with the death of a loved one, animal or human, is one of the most challenging things in life. While several unpleasant phases of grieving leave us feeling alone in our sadness, celebrating the life of the deceased and sharing that celebration with others can be a particularly effective strategy.
“Steve ran the Sheridan neighborhood of NE Minneapolis with an iron fist-paw,” the flyer reads. “Steve only had one eye but don’t let that fool you, she could still see the stupit [sic] sh— you were up to.” So, Steve appears to have been a female cat.
According to the obituary, she “was a girl with a dude’s name because I’m a dude with a girl’s name and we were in this together.” The author did not sign his name or leave any contact info, but a reporter for the Star Tribune tracked him down via a local bar, discovering that the self-reported “dude with a girl’s name” is Kelly Loverud, a professional photographer living in Minneapolis.
Speaking to the Star Tribune, Loverud said that making and posting those flyers around his neighborhood helped him while he was in the depths of his grief and devastation over losing his 19-year-old cat. More highlights from Steve’s life include delightful personality traits, like being “the best cuddle kitty of all time,” as well as “smart, funny, and lethal.”
“She was also annoying and loud as hell at times, but hey who of us isn’t?” Loverud wrote, keeping it real. “She was the best cat a guy could ever want,” he wrote at the end of the obituary. “I loved her more than anything and I miss her tons.”
We understand, dude, and we hope this act of public love and grief provided a particularly poignant catharsis.
(featured image: Reddit/Kelly Loverud)
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