Happy Solstice & Happy Birthday Zenith!

Happy Solstice which is the longest day of the year... the height of the sun and Zenith, our Siamese was born on the summer solstice.

(sorry, started writing this way before midnight, so yesterday was the summer solstice.)

Happy Birthday Zenith.

She would've been 12 years old.

Bob wanted her to have "sun" name -- we came up with Zenith as when the sun is at the highest point of sky it's called the "zenith of the sun."

Also the word "zenith" came to mean "highest" as in highest quality therefore you have Zenith radios and Zenith TV's back in the day....  and as Bob said she was "best highest quality" cat at the shelter when we adopted her. But people always asked us why we named our cat after a TV? ha!

Bob had always said he wanted a "cool" cat, a Siamese or Himalayan or some such exotic cat and I had always argued that there are too many homeless cats to buy a pure breed.... so...

One day, we woke up and there was a program on the radio that said cats were being discounted at some local shelters from an over abundance of kittens and Bob looked at me and said, "We have to go to the SPCA" as he KNEW there was a Siamese kitten waiting for him there.

Of course, I thought he was nuts, I mean, Siamese cats cost money, you don't find them at shelters unless they are older cats.... unless some owner died... but a kitten? no way, those cost money...  even the ones who aren't "show quality" cost money, at least a couple thousand bucks.  Show quality cats cost much more...   anyway

Bob was insistent, so I thought OK, we'll go and there isn't going to be any Siamese kitten but there will probably be another kitten he'll fall in love with and we will take it home.

So we go to the SPCA and look around at dozens and dozens of kittens. No Siamese.  I point out a cute striped gray one. Actually get a volunteer to take it out, so we can hold it and play with it in the "play room" at the shelter. I say, "oh what a sweet kitty, why don't we take him home?" But Bob is still insistent there's a Siamese.

So we look around again, bunches and bunches of mostly black kittens, older cats, no Siamese. A very cute fluffy black cat I convince Bob to look at, and a volunteer let's us take it into the "play room" but Bob says, "I think we  are at the wrong shelter, maybe we should go check the Humane Society." He is sure there is a Siamese waiting for him. And as the volunteer was putting that fluffy kitten back in its crate, a guy comes with a crate of kittens and right in front of us, puts the crate on the highest shelf. And we look up and there is a Siamese kitten with big blue eyes looking down at us. Eight weeks old.  Of course, we asked to see her, the volunteer actually took two kittens out, handed one to Bob (not a Siamese) and one to me (which was Zenith), and we take them to the play room where the one Bob had just runs around like crazy and the other (Zenith) just curls up on my lap and falls asleep, purring.

Of course, definitely, we adopted her.  But how the hell did Bob know she'd be there?

So you know they had a special bond... and she died two weeks after Bob.  I miss them both.

BTW: Zenith was a "Sealpoint Snowshoe Siamese" therefore the white paws....  so not a show quality cat -- but still they cost money when you buy them from breeders, I've heard $850.00 up to $1000 ... she was $25.00 included vaccines and spaying at the shelter...

And must admit, a very "cool" cat.

I tell you, they were meant to be together. I loved her too. So much.

Last week, my shrink (not my therapist) asked me why it bothered me so much about an anniversary  that a cat died?