On a very hot day in July, 1997 we found a stray kitten in a barn that had been rejected by its mother. We ended up taking the cat, but thought at the time that it would never make it back to our house alive, as she was malnourished and virtually lifeless when we found her. We named her Jazz and after nursing her back to health, she blossomed into a beautiful cat and a very integral member of our family. Jazz had an innate ability to almost sense what you were thinking before you even said it. She sensed when you were upset or sad and paid that extra attention to you with an extra nuzzle or bump on the hand, which was a signal that she wanted you to pet her. When her food or water was either empty or too low for her liking, she would hunt one of us down in the house and not let up on meowing until someone came and fixed the situation. Jazz was well cared for and loved for her entire life of 13 years, which made it all the more painful when we had to put her down this past Labour Day due to a blood clot. We struggled to come to grips with what was happening before our eyes that day as we never envisioned we would have to make this decision regarding our still very active 13 year old cat. We wanted to write this as a tribute to her as she was more than a family pet to us and we cherish the years we had with her.
The Stroud Family
