I’m always fascinated when something happens to us in life that seems to have a greater purpose, but we don’t always connect the dots or the meaning right away. You know what I mean…fate, synchronicity, destiny… whatever you want to call it. Sometimes it can happen in a split second and sometimes it might take years… which is what happened to me on Sunday when I was doing some writing on the book I am working on about Jazz. Since the book is being written from his point of view, it has caused me to go back into the deep recesses of the life I shared with him, bringing me to a startling past, present, and future moment.

My sweet Jazz about a month after we got him.

Jazz was born on April 17th in 1998 and came to live with me in July of the same year. While he was a pedigreed cat, I did not get him for his background and I never paid attention to his lineage papers. I filed them away years ago, never giving them a second thought. His name, Jazz (aka Jazzy and Mr. Jazz), came to me several weeks after he lived with us as a result of his happy personality which reminded me of jazz music.

Upon his death last August 28th, I had no intention of bringing another cat into our lives any time soon. I just wasn’t ready emotionally and so when I saw him standing in my office doorway in spirit form the night before Dan and I went to the Global Pet Expo in March, I knew there was something he was trying to tell me, I just didn’t know what. At the point of his visitation I was debating the whole expo in general – I didn’t even know if I wanted to go, but it seemed like he was telling me there was a purpose to it all and that I had to go. Turns out he was right – I might not have been ready for another cat, but another cat was ready for us, patiently waiting at the Imperial Cat booth, like she had been expecting us all along. Just like with Jazz, her name did not come to me right away and when it did, it was like a light bulb went off – Jazmine – a beautiful name that was perfect for her and also honored the memory of Mr. Jazz.

Yup… there Jazmine was at the Imperial Cat booth… She had that look of, “what took you so long… I’ve been waiting all day for you to come pick me up to bring me to my new furever home!”

Anyhow, back to the discussion of fate – as a result of writing the book, I needed to look something up on Jazz’s birth papers and I was shocked at what I saw – his mother’s name was Jazzy Jasmine! Now I know this isn’t earth shattering news, but it really rocked my world because that was the first I time I had seen it and it reinforced to me more than ever that Jazz did not die in vain, that Jazmine was meant to be, and the story I am writing about his life was also meant to be.

The photo image I did to honor Mr. Jazz for his tribute post.

The tribute post I wrote to him after his passing continues to be my guiding light for the book – so many people who have lost a pet reached out to me in gratitude that my words had helped them with their own grieving process and that is why I want the story told from Jazz’s point of view – so that people can feel the emotion of an animal communicating to a guardian that they are ready to cross to the Bridge. The post is clearly bittersweet for me, but I am extremely proud of it and have a favor to ask you if you think it is worthy – the prestigious Dog Time Pettie Awards are upon us once again and I am graciously asking all of you – my dear friends, family, and fans if you might consider nominating the post in the Best Blog Post category.

I truly don’t like asking because it really is such a long process and every year I debate if I want to participate. But, the fact of the matter is, if Zee & Zoey’s blog wins an award, we will get a $1,000 donation for a shelter or rescue of our choice and that’s not something we can let pass by. We would donate the money in honor of Mr. Jazz to our favorite organization, Pawsitively Humane, Inc. that was founded by our dear friend and animal lover, Christine Michaels of Riverfront Cats.

Here’s the scoop – there are several Pettie categories and not all of them are cat related. Nominations are done by our supporters and are not judged by a panel of peers. You can vote once a day throughout the month of June and you don’t have to vote for the same blog each time. If you want to share your love with your other favorite blogs, please do so! We would love your support for Best Blog Post and we also feel we fit in the categories of Best Cat Blog and Best Designed Blog (a blogger can actually win more than one category).

I think you know by now that we try really hard to bring you entertaining and informative posts that go above and beyond the norm all year-long. Once the nominees are selected, then the official voting process will begin on July 5th and voting will be allowed once a day through until July 31st. Please click here to see all the categories and for voting details – to make it easier, just consider voting something like brushing your teeth in the morning…. make it part of your routine then get on with the day!

I personally don’t like asking for votes from you all, but Jazmine has no problem with it whatsoever!

Good luck to everyone – I would not be unhappy at all to see any one of my talented, dedicated, and hard-working blogging friends win an award – I mean really, how can you argue with any shelter winning $1000 to help out animals in need!!

Jazz post url:  https://zeezoey.com/blog/a-tribute-to-mr-jazz-the-dignity-of-life-and-death-and-finding-the-beauty-in-letting-go/

Zee and Zoey blog url: https://www.zeezoey.com/blog