Shortly before our wedding, a shower was had by a friend and bridesmaid, Marlene. Beautifully wrapped boxes were opened and gifts were accepted with gratitude as we anticipated our life together. In the midst of it all at Marlene’s house, a kitten appeared. A darling Calico full of energy and life, rubbing the ankles of those in attendance and otherwise stealing the show. I remembered the kitten as I read Dee’s blog, complete with an excerpt from her newly published book, The Twelve Habits of Highly Successful Cats and Their Humans. The kitten, you see, turned out to be one of our wedding gifts from the hostess, Marlene.
It was 39 years ago that we were gifted that kitten. We named her Zoe, the Greek word for life, as we began our life together.
Zoe was a character of a cat. She didn’t purr, but she loved Greek Kalamata olives and, strangely, Ben Gay. Sore back muscles got a second kneading by Zoe whenever the Ben Gay ointment came out. Imagine, a Calico cat on a very sore back in purr-less ecstasy over someone’s aching muscles?
Zoe really loved us as much we loved her, but she was, shall I say particular with her attentions to others. Our niece Heather, just learning to speak at the time of Zoe’s appearance, would respond when asked after the litany of questions we ask toddlers about animal sounds, “What does Zoe say, Heather?”. Heather would smile sweetly and say “hisssss”.
Thanks, Dee, for the reminder of such a thoughtful and wonderful gift and joy of life our Zoe brought, and for the announcement of your new book, a companion to your first, all of which you, dear reader, can find out about here.
The serendipity of Dee’s post and the reminder of Zoe is that Tom and I just celebrated our 39th anniversary this past Sunday. I don’t know where the last 39 years have gone, but I’m so grateful and blessed to have shared them with Tom for so long.
We spent the day in our typically nature kind of way, touring Garden Conservancy Open Day estates, visiting an organic farm, and eating at one of our favorite Francesca restaurants, La Sorella de Francesca in Naperville. We were seated at a window spot we especially like and each of our meals was delicious after a long, busy, inspiring – and very hot day.
The flowers on the ledge outside our window were so lovely, I decided to take a picture, and found my Tom in the reflection as well. I love these moments in life, don’t you?
Zoe!
To life!
(click onto the picture to find Tom)
