Jazmine and Mia tuck themselves into a perfectly formed ball of love as they share a nap on the cat cushion in the guest bedroom.

I love symbolism. The kind of symbolism that we find in everyday life that we are able to draw special meaning from. For me, I found that of late I was inexplicably drawn to going into our guest bedroom where the cats love to nap – the room has a window perfect for squirrel and bird watching and is typically awash in a glorious bath of warm sunlight, giving it a wonderfully peaceful and cozy feeling.

Absorbing the zen of the room, they go into a deep nap, tucking themselves into perfectly curled up balls and I marvel at the simplicity of how they are able to so gracefully take on that shape – sometimes on their own and sometimes intertwined with one another – which caused me to reflect on the circle shape, a shape that symbolizes eternity and the never-ending cycle of life.

The pull to the room and the shape was nagging and strong. I didn’t know why I was subliminally being pointed in that direction, but it dawned on me it was happening because I was caught up in a vortex of living past, present, and future all at once and there was a deeper meaning to it all that was being communicated to me.

Rolz, Mia, and Peanut nap in a perfect line of cozy circles on the bed in the guest room. The blanket has a soft pile to it and the cats love snuggling on it!

Let me try to explain. This week was the Global Pet Expo in Orlando. I went last year and if you will recall, I struggled with whether or not I should even attend the event, as it was being held only months after I had lost my beloved Jazz and my emotional well-being was quite fragile. I was still grieving his loss, and along with several other personal issues, I was not in the best shape and was close to canceling the whole trip. That was until I received a special visit from Jazz who sometimes came to me in spiritual form after crossing the Rainbow Bridge.

I have had spiritual encounters with him a few other times after his death, but those visits were random and without any particular meaning or implication that I could discern. This time was very different – he made it clear to me telepathically that there was I reason I needed to go – he just wasn’t sure what the reason was.

Jazz always loved napping in the guest bedroom as well. This is one of my favorite pictures of him and was taken prior to him declining in health.

Now mind you, I have lost many pets in my life and consider myself a highly intuitive person when it comes to communicating with animals, but Jazz was the first and only pet I’ve ever been blessed to  see  in a spiritual sense. Because of that, I knew not to discount this particular visit from him as being inconsequential. I don’t always understand the how’s or why’s, but fate and destiny have always played a part in my life, and I believed that somehow Jazz was leading me down a path I needed to take.

As a result of that, I decided to go the expo (with Dan in tow). We stayed for two days and other than hooking up with some good friends, nothing of real consequence happened and I dejectedly surmised that I had misinterpreted Jazz’s visit and that I was giving it far too much credit for providing me with meaning. A cat sending me a message from the afterlife. Really?

We had one last appointment with the folks at Imperial Cat (makers of awesome cat scratching posts) and then we were going to wrap things up and go home. That is when we happened upon Jazmine (who was called Empress at the time) – a sweet ginger kitten that was up for adoption. Unbelievably to us, nobody had stepped up to provide her with a furever home and it was clear to me at that moment, that she was meant to be ours. Jazz knew she was our fate and destiny and that is why we had to go to the expo.

This was Jazmine the first day she was with us – she spent her first week in the guest bedroom – seen here, she is lying in the same spot Jazz did on his final day with us.

Without exaggeration, I can tell you that Jazmine has changed our lives. She is an absolute precious gift and has renewed the spirit of our house. All of us adore her, humans and felines alike, and there is not a day that goes by that we don’t appreciate her loving and endearing personality.

Full circle. I had wanted to go to the expo this year, but due to finances and trying to keep Purr Prints of the Heart on schedule for an April/May book release, it wasn’t meant to be. But yet somehow it was all connected – the expo was being held at the exact time I approved the final draft copy of the book – a book that is written in the voice of Jazz with the epilogue being about how he led us to Jazmine.

And even more poignant, despite that the book is about losing a pet and the grieving process, the larger, overall message of the story is one that celebrates life. Jazz frequently reminds us in the story, in his wise and gentle way, to remember that life is finite and that we need to love, treasure, and appreciate what we have in our lives as if it might be our last day because it very well might be.

He also tells us when we lose a beloved pet, not be afraid to feel love again. When the time is right, he encourages us to adopt another pet who needs a furever home because there are so, so many animals who deserve a chance for a happy life. He promises that it will not dilute the love you had for the pet you lost, quite the opposite – it will fill their hearts with joy knowing you have given another creature a chance to love you the same way you loved them. In my life, that new chance equated to Jazmine.

But even more symbolic – when I was editing the book a couple of weeks ago, I was doing it in the guest bedroom in the exact spot I stayed with Jazz during his final moments with us in the physical sense. Normally I do all of my editing in my office, but something compelled me to go into the guest bedroom – something I previously couldn’t do because it caused me too much pain to be in the room where I had to say goodbye to him before we took him to the vet to help cross him over the Bridge. Now that time has passed and my heart has begun to heal, I take comfort from the room because I can feel him around me and it gives me a sense of peace.

My final moments with Jazz in the guest bedroom. Sharing in the moment was Kizmet and Harley.

In any event, while I was editing, I was surrounded by several of my cats, just like I was during my last moments with Jazz and I asked Dan out of the blue to take some pictures. The pictures he ended up taking were of me editing the epilogue, which I found especially fitting since Jazz’s namesake, Jazmine, is in the windowsill. I realize none of this is earth shattering but to me, it is everything. I don’t see Jazz in the visual sense any more, but through these subliminal messages and symbols, I know he is still here with me, communicating that he is still a part of my life.

Sitting on the guestroom bed surrounded by my sweet kitties as I do some final editing to Purr Prints.

Syncroncicity – the epilogue and the full circle of life…

It’s amazing what we can see in front of us if we really look. Cats sleeping in a ball – to some it is nothing more or less than what it appears. But for others, like me, it is the peaceful reassurance of the circle of life.

A beautiful picture of Jazz taken towards the end of his life – I love the peaceful aura of the image as he naps in a lovely ball of tranquility.