A concept that began as a rough draft around October of 2013 officially becomes a book about a year and a half later…

In the roller coaster journey of writing Purr Prints of the Heart – A Cat’s Tale of Life, Death, and Beyond, a meow-memoir written in the voice of my dearly departed Ragdoll cat, Mr. Jazz, who I had to help cross over the Bridge on August 28, 2013, after 15 years of life, it turns out writing the book was the easy part. In the world of self-publishing where the landscape changes quicker than what is the most current iPhone available, it is a convoluted, painstakingly arduous ordeal that is not for the weak of heart. Read more

He may be gone in the physical sense, but there is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Jazz is still with me….

Last night after dinner I was in my office catching up on things – no surprise there. I try to make use of my time as best I can and I was putting together some materials for my upcoming trip I will be taking to the Global Pet Expo in Orlando. I have never been to this event, but since it’s close to home and won’t break the bank, I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet some new people, catch up with friends, and learn about all the coolest cat products and trends that are on the market to share on Zee & Zoey’s blog. Dan will be coming with me for the first time and it will be nice to venture out with him instead of leaving him home with the cats. My oldest son who turns 30 today (sigh) will be cat-sitting, so there you have it.

What made last night more unique was my visitor. Please don’t think I’m crazy, but ever since Mr. Jazz crossed the Rainbow Bridge last August, sometimes I see him in the house. Mostly it’s when I’m on the couch watching TV – I will catch a glimpse of him down the hallway as if he’s getting ready to lie on my chest like he had done a thousand times before, and sometimes I feel him lying on top of my legs in the bedroom at night. Read more

This picture was taken in September of 2010 as the debut image for Zee & Zoey’s blog. I was surrounded by my beloved furry family with Jazz front and center. As I reflect back, I realize I am never alone… the circumstances might change, but my cats always adapt to be by my side.

There is no doubt my cats are an integral part of my life and I have always lavished them with attention, both consciously and subconsciously. The conscious became especially evident the past few months as I spent nearly every waking moment taking care of the special needs that Mr. Jazz had to ensure his final time with us as comfortable as possible.  Now that he has passed on, I find my mind frequently wandering and I wondered if I had inadvertently given the other cats less attention than they needed or did they not even notice the difference at all?

I came to the conclusion despite the general preference cats have for routine, they are also far more intuitive and flexible than what appears on the surface. What happened, I now realize, is that they adjusted around my needs with Jazz to suit their own. It was an implied, “we know you love us, but you need to take care of Jazz so we’ll figure out our own unique ways to spend time with you when we need it.” And mind you, it’s not as if I was ignoring them – far from it, but I just wasn’t myself, yet there they were, right by my side all along. Read more