Image and quote created and submitted by Crystal Power in tribute to our beloved Kit

Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary – pictures of Zee and Zoey splashed everywhere ad nauseam – the name of the blog, “Zee & Zoey’s Chronicle Connection,” the title of the book, “The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey – a Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary,” Zee and Zoey’s facebook page and facebook fan page, the Zee and Zoey twitter account, the ZeeZoey Partners LLC LinkedIn account, the ZeeZoey Partners LLC I set up, as well as the ZeeZoey Partners corporate logo and monogram that was exclusively designed for them and the ZeeZoey blog photo shoot, the idea for the book and the entire Zee/Zoey concept did not actually begin with Zee and Zoey. What?! How can that be?

Once I decided I was ready to write the book, I struggled a bit at first as to “how to write the book.” Or, simply put, “what would the book be about?” I think most felt I would write a little short story about the kittens and some sort of adventure. Some felt I should write a book about raising cats in general. For me, it just seemed right to go with my gut feeling and to write about Zee, Zoey, and the kittens, but to weave a tale that led up to this amazing love story of two cats in a very real, humorous, and heartfelt way that allowed the reader to easily relate to, by wrapping the context of the book into everyday life situations.  Zee and Zoey did not just magically appear one day and have a litter of kittens. There was a chronological weave of past, present and future in my life, as well as Zee and Zoey’s life, that seemed to tie it all together and that is how I became inspired to write the book.

Crucial to the entire theme of past, present, and future, was, and is, my love of all animals. In particular, my beloved domestic short hair Kit, of which the Chronicles surely would never exist without her being in my life. Kit was many in a long string of stray cats I adopted (or more aptly put, she found and adopted me), but Kit out-survived them all. She had been with me through almost every phase in my life – from good to bad, to happy to sad – my marriage and eventual divorce, two children, obtaining my A.A. S. degree, a move to Florida, several hurricane, endless dogs, cats, frogs, guinea pigs and rabbits, my soul-mate, Dan, a home renovation, a lay off, and so much more. I had enormous love and respect for this endearing matriarch of our family and when Zee became a part of her life in 2005, she took it in stride like she did with all my other “pet projects.”

Kit at age 16 was beginning to fail in health and I prepared the family for her eminent passing which I literally felt was going to be within hours. We said our “good-byes” and prayed she would not suffer. I laid next to her all night long on the floor and hoped my presence would bring her comfort. Well, Kit had other plans in mind – she literally recovered overnight like a spring chicken. None of us could believe what we saw the next morning, but we accepted our miracle with open arms and were happy for each additional day she gave us. What really kept her going… you won’t believe it, but it was Kraft cheese slices. For whatever reason, I fed her a bit of cheese as a treat one day – from that point on – she heard the crinkle of wrapper being opened and would dart into the kitchen for her delectable morsel. This lasted for two years until we finally had to let her go and she died at the old age of 18. Her loss affected us all deeply – Dan’s daughter Crystal, who I affectionately refer to as my daughter as well, had come to know Kit during her visits to Florida and was so moved with emotion that she created the beautiful photo and quote you see above that she gave Dan and I in a beautiful frame that we keep in our living room.

It was during the last year of her life that I had become introduced to the world of Bengals and became instantly intrigued by this miniature leopard that seemed custom made for me. I became obsessed with researching this breed and knew it would not be fair to bring such a wild, athletic, high-spirited creature into the household with Kit being so frail. Animals can be cruel and I did not want her to endure any more undue stress. Once Kit passed, we knew we could get the kitten I had wanted for so long and we also felt the timing was right – Zee was still very much a kitten at heart and needed a younger playmate – so that is how and why Zoey came into being.  The kittens… well, you do the math – dim the lights, put on some Barry White, a little wine, and there you go, three months later, instant kittens!

The entire pregnancy, birth, and growth of the kittens and the relationship that formed between all of us collectively – Zee and Zoey, Zoey and the kittens, Zee and the kittens, the kittens with Dan and I, and so on became such a rich experience for all of us, that incorporating it into the book was very easy and enjoyable – the subject matter was with me 24/7 and fresh on my mind – once I was ready to begin writing, it just started to flow as I put some sense and order into all the preceding events in Zee and Zoey’s life and the events to follow. I will share much more about all of this in upcoming posts – I just wanted you all to get a brief idea of the number one question I get from everyone, “What is the book about?”