I’m not sure of the date on this puzzle, but I’m guessing it’s from the late 1990s, early 2000s. I don’t quite see that as vintage, but people on eBay do seeing as that’s how I was able to find it. After my grandma died last year, I wished that I’d been able to get this puzzle from her house. I did try, but it was tossed before I had a chance to ask for it. She loved cats. I was probably in middle school when I did this puzzle for her. I don’t remember finding it or the moment when I decided that gluing the completed puzzle and framing it was something that she would like. But she did.
Months ago, I started searching for this puzzle and finally found it on eBay. I debated getting it a lot because it’s not the same one that she had and it’s just a bit of nostalgia. But the more I waited and thought, the more I realized that even though it’s not the same one, it’s still the image that I did for her. It’s the one that she looked at and thought about me. Of my grandparents, she was the one that I was closest with and spent the most time with. I stayed at her house during the summers and we had all sorts of fun. She was the one who saw I was bored with my small puzzles. I’d been doing 100 and 200-piece puzzles at that point. We went to some garage sales and I found a 500-piece lighthouse puzzle that I liked. I did the puzzle that day and kept doing it. I don’t know how many times I did that puzzle.
I partly have my grandma to thank for my love of puzzles. She encouraged me and fed that growing puzzle addiction. I’m glad that I was able to find this one. I don’t think that I’ll glue and frame it but one of these days I will put it together again.
No Pieces Missing 