Just off the heavy traveled highway of U.S. 41, a two-lane road cuts through Rubonia, a small town that can be missed in a blink of an eye.
There, a small quiet plot of land is filled with small monuments marking the burial sites of loving big hearts. Not of aunts or uncles, or even grandfathers or mothers, but of four-legged family members. Their small bodies may be laid to rest, but their memories are still alive.
Companions Memorial Park and Pet Cemetery, 7777 Bayshore Road, offers pet owners a palate to express their final good-byes. Some simple, like Misty's, pictured above, “A Loving Friend,” to Fish Glass's “She wiggled her tail with happiness.” Others include “Good Boy Rusty,” “Hey Bubba we love you,” and “See you at Rainbow Bridge.”
Too many to mention here, but each expresses the emptiness left behind with the loss of a loved pet. A tribute to two small dogs, Kiyu and Miko, may say it all, so to Venny, Gismo, Rufus, Jasper, Sugar Bear, Winky Dinky, Sam I Am, and the countless others, “You left footprints on my heart that will never fade away.”
-Grant Jefferies
Grant Jefferies, a native of Palmetto and chief photographer at the Bradenton Herald, has been capturing moments in the lives of Manatee County residents for over 25 years. Images from the streets of Cuba and Haiti to the clay fields of the Little League World Series and beyond have been captured through the lenses of Jefferies' cameras. Jefferies can be found on his sailboat when his feet are not on land.
Tiffany Tompkins-Condie is in her 13th year as a photojournalist at the Bradenton Herald. Through the years she has covered crimes and carnivals; feasts and floods. Her postings will vary from events in Manatee County's back yard to the work of photojournalists covering the stories of our times from around the world. 
Paul Videla has been a staff photographer with the Bradenton Herald since 2002, when he made the move from Detroit, Mich. When he's not working,
he enjoys hunting for unique LPs at the area's plethora of thrift stores and continually works to improve his baking chops(as the records spin and his dog waits for handouts).
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