{"id":13165,"date":"2014-08-28T04:50:59","date_gmt":"2014-08-28T08:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/?p=13165"},"modified":"2014-08-27T19:57:45","modified_gmt":"2014-08-27T23:57:45","slug":"remembering-the-distinguished-mr-jazz-gone-but-never-forgotten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/remembering-the-distinguished-mr-jazz-gone-but-never-forgotten\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering the Distinguished Mr. Jazz – Gone But Never Forgotten…"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"remembering-jazz\"<\/a>

This picture was taken of Jazz in April of 2013 – this was right about when we started to notice his health was beginning to decline. To see full beauty of his image, please click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

A year passes far too quickly. How is it that my Mr. Jazz has already been gone for 365 days when it seems like just yesterday he was snuggling on the couch with me, making biscuits on my chest with his big bear paws. But it\u2019s true. Today marks the anniversary of the date I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends.<\/p>\n

While my heart is still heavy with sadness, I have decided not to take the maudlin road that remains inside me, but rather to celebrate the day. Celebrate the fact that I was blessed to have him as part of my life and celebrate the fact that the love, joy, and friendship he gave me for 15 years far outweighs any of the sadness and grief I might still be feeling at his passing.<\/p>\n

\"Jazz<\/a>

A tisket a tasket, the first picture of my beloved Jazz in a basket. Seen here Jazz was about 12 weeks old.<\/p><\/div>\n

Jazz came to me practically a lifetime ago as a Mother\u2019s Day present from my two boys. I had fallen hopelessly in love with the Ragdoll\u00a0breed after seeing them for the first time on an Animal Planet show about cat breeds and I was adamant that was the gift I wanted. We already had a house full of other cats and dogs, but my heart was longing for what I thought was the most beautiful cat I had ever seen and so we subsequently found a cattery where I was able to pick out any kitten I wanted. Naturally, me being me, I instantly gravitated to the runt of the litter who also happened to be sick with an eye infection and a chronic cough. None of that mattered \u2013 my heart melted at the sight of what I knew would be my kitten and I vowed right then and there to be his forevermore guardian who would nurse him back to health with my love.<\/p>\n

When we brought Jazz home, he had to be in quarantine for a couple of weeks\u00a0so that his infection would not\u00a0affect the other cats and we became best buddies as I took care of him around the clock, giving him special medicines and kitten food. At that point, he was just a tiny\u00a0thing, primarily white in color, as it can take Ragdolls\u00a0several years to develop their full color range, and despite being sick, he was\u00a0a sweet and good-natured boy. His happy-go-lucky temperament became his trademark, causing me to bestow him with the name Jazz (aka Jazzy and years later as he matured, Mr. Jazz) because it suited his carefree ways.<\/p>\n

\"_DSC5808\"<\/a>

This photo of Jazz was from 2011 and was taken during one of our outdoor excursions. He was so vibrant and healthy back then…<\/p><\/div>\n

Throughout the years Jazz remained a sweetheart and was never any trouble. Sure, maybe and occasional hiss here and there, but at heart he was a lover and a snuggler and his happiest moments were napping with, on, or next to me. It was not until the last months of his life that he showed any aggression towards me at all, but I knew it was not directed at me per se, but merely his response and exhaustion to the medications he was taking and the fact that I had to force feed him at this point.<\/p>\n

\"Jazz-in-pod\"<\/a>

No matter where I was, Jazz was always by my side. This photo was from 2012 when he was helping me review the Sleepypod carrier!<\/p><\/div>\n

When his life began to be measured in hours and minutes rather than days, months, and years, I knew despite how much it broke my heart to the very core, that the greatest gift I could ever give him was to allow him his dignity and let him go. Thankfully I did not have to make that decision alone, as he was very much loved by Dan as well and we both\u00a0knew we had to help Jazz cross to the Bridge to avoid any suffering he might have been going through.<\/p>\n

So, in tribute to his memory and the 15 wonderful years of life he lived, I thought the perfect way to honor his passing would be to share a sneak peek excerpt from the draft prologue of his book so that you could understand why I said from the beginning of this post that this anniversary day is meant to be a celebration because that is how he wanted it:<\/p>\n

My name is Mr. Jazz. I am a Ragdoll cat and on August 28th, 2013, after 15 years of life, I asked my beloved humans for the most difficult gift of all – to help cross me to the Rainbow Bridge. I had never asked them for much of anything else before \u2013 I was always a humble cat with simple desires – quiet naps on the couch, the love of my family, and a full belly were all I really cared about and those needs were always fulfilled for me. I never aspired towards fame and writing my story was not part of my master plan. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

But, the truth was, my death had deeply touched the hearts of a wide audience and I\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0ignore the fact that there appeared to be a greater purpose\u00a0to it all – my death brought with it lessons learned that needed to be told from my point of view so that anyone who had ever loved and had to say goodbye to a cherished pet, could understand from a pet\u2019s perspective that when it is our time to go, we want you to let us, no matter how difficult that might be for you. We want you to understand that when that moment happens and we are gone from your life in the physical sense, that we remain in your hearts and souls forevermore and that the intense pain you feel as you grieve for us will eventually soften, to be replaced with the memories of happier days shared with us. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Naturally I realize parts of this story will undoubtedly sadden some of you, after all, it is about my death, but that is actually not my intention at all and I hope it won\u2019t stop you from reading on. For what this story really is, is a celebration. A celebration of my life and the life of all animals who find a way into the hearts and homes of our human guardians across the world, whatever our unique circumstances might be. We are grateful for the love, companionship, and care you give us, for however long or brief that moment on this earth may be, and my story is about honoring that relationship and being able to find the joy, beauty, and dignity of letting us go when it is our time…<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"photo\"<\/a>

Despite the unflattering nature, I love this photo and all it represents. It was taken about a month ago while I was on the couch in my office tightening up the draft on Jazz’s book. Kizmet is at my feet and you can see Peanut’s tail in the top right corner which is where Jazz used to love to nap.<\/p><\/div>\n

RIP my darling boy…I am trying ever so hard to be strong, but I truly do miss you each and every day and you will forgive me if I go and give myself a good cry…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A year passes far too quickly. How is it that my Mr. Jazz has already been gone for 365 days when it seems like just yesterday he was snuggling on the couch with me, making biscuits on my chest with his big bear paws. But it\u2019s true. Today marks the anniversary of the date I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1265,676,110,671,874,37],"class_list":["post-13165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration-healing","tag-cats","tag-grieving","tag-jazz","tag-pet-loss","tag-ragdoll-cat","tag-rainbow-bridge"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/remembering-jazz.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13165"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13190,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13165\/revisions\/13190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}