It’s nearly impossible to believe our precious Zee has been gone a full year. He brought so much love, light, and joy to our lives and the hole in our hearts remains deep. Since I was blessed that he didn’t mind being snuggled or held, I’ve created a collage of some of my favorite pictures with him to honor his passing.

Goodbye sweet Zee, forever and always in my heart.

Zee: September 7, 2005 – March 18, 2022.

My Dearest Zee,

While it is true, I can now walk into the kitchen and see your empty food dish on the counter next to the seven others and not break into tears as I had been, remembering the 3 times daily ritual I would feed you from it, it does not mean my heart doesn’t skip a beat, missing you being a part of it. Read more

Our precious Maine Coon, Zee, has been gone nearly two months, yet somehow the world did not stop. Not for my pain, nor for his significance. There was no parade. No national holiday created. No indication from passersby I’d come upon in stores, restaurants, or wherever,  who cared to wonder how I was, or how I was coping, as surely they could see my heart had nearly stopped beating from a mile away, the pain of loss so deeply embedded in me. But no, none of that happened. Notwithstanding the kindness of friends, family, and my beloved cat community who have supported me with cards, gifts, comments, and more, life moves on without the courtesy of stopping, thus requiring me to manage my pain and emptiness within the frame of daily existence as I mourn an extraordinary cat.

Zee’s urn is front and center and one day will have his picture on it, too.

I’m still in a fog of denial. We have his wooden urn sitting on the shelf of our armoire, residing among our other angels – Bailey, Kit, Bandit, Jazz, and Harley. There is a lovely card from the vet’s office – Zee’s beautiful paw print emblazoned on it, with touching and heartfelt signed messages from the office staff. After all, Zee had become like family to them, too. One day I will get a frame for it – something appropriately kitty-related so as to acknowledge the beauty, and one day I will put a picture of Zee on his resting container like I did for Jazz and Harley. Read more

When Zee first arrived at our house on November 12, 2005, he was a tiny, fuzzy brown tabby 9-week-old Maine Coon kitten that I gave Dan as a housewarming gift when he moved in with me. He joined then furmates, Bandit (a dog), and cats Kit, Jazz, and Harley, all long since angels. How he would change our lives could not have been predicted at the time, but he quickly stole our hearts and it was evident early on he was a very special cat. Read more

Today is Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day and as the founder of the day, I’d like to invite a frank discussion. I founded the day on August 28, 2015, in honor of my angel cat Jazz, in large part because of the outpouring of comments and personal messages from friends, strangers, bloggers, writers, and everything in between who voiced their desire to have a place to share their feelings about pet loss after I shared Jazz’s end-of-life journey when he passed on August 28, 2013, and subsequently wrote his memoir Purr Prints of the Heart – A Cat’s Tale of Life, Death, and Beyond. The day was created with love, with all the best intentions and I didn’t think it would go too far, other than within my cat blogging/writing circle of friends.
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