Seed of a lesson in feline tragedy

A haunting reminder that we should not take our blessings for granted. No matter how bad things may seem, they can assuredly still get worse. And someone else always has it worse than we do, so whining and complaining doesn't earn us special compensation; it's by how we endure and persevere through our adversity that we reveal our worth.
That is the lesson that comes to my mind, following a look at one of 99 photos from this slideshow of the year's memorable photos:

Cy, short for Cyclopes, a kitten born with only one eye and no nose, is shown in this photo provided by its owner in Redmond, Oregon, on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005. The kitten, a ragdoll breed, which died after living for one day, was one of two in the litter. Its sibling was born normal and healthy.