Hello everyone, mommy Audra here today. Can you believe Christmas is just a week away? For anyone who reads our blog regularly, you know that I don’t write posts often. I live for my girls, and they have so much to say. And when we started this journey into technology and social media, my “fears” of the all seeing intrusive internet, led me to speak through them. I quickly learned about Facebook pages and the girls’ personalities came to life. I knew we, especially Lexi, had a story to tell I just didn’t know if anyone was interested. Through the years I’d sent her story to cat publications, only to be disappointed by their lack of interest. Somehow, through the magic of the internet, we connected with people. Lexi touched peoples hearts, the way she had touched mine. When she introduced her sister Dezi to everyone, their story took on a life of its’ own. And out of that, DezizWorld was born. To keep this post from going on for days, I’m just hitting the highlights.
We garnered followers who quickly became friends. I remember the first person I ever spoke directly to in something other than the girls’ voice in a comment. We began to look forward to seeing and reading about our friends lives. And of course we always love seeing photos. Who could ever tire of seeing pictures of beautiful cats? And they’re all beautiful, aren’t they?.
I remember our first Christmas in social media. The kindness and generosity of those “strangers” now friends. Yet still, people we would probably never actually meet. I didn’t understand how people could be so loving?. For the first time in the girls’ lives, they actually had a Christmas with presents under the tree. And not the repurposed ones I’d dug out of the bottom of the toy box. They were so adorable. They almost didn’t know what to play with first.
And then, Lexi got sick. Again, it was you, our friends who reached out. It was you, our friends who helped and you, our friends who were there for us, when she died. In some ways, this year has flown by; and in others, it has been the longest and hardest year of my life. For those of you who don’t know, for the last 25 years, I had lost a cat every 5 years. It felt like a curse. When Dezi turned 6, we celebrated like never before. I took a deep breath for the first time in years. It was always the younger cat that left me. I never even thought there’d come a day when Lexi would be the one to go. I really mean that. I know how unrealistic that sounds, but it’s just the way it was. Anyways, you were all there for Dezi and me, and for that, we can’t say thank you enough. I’m still trying to pick up the pieces.
But life goes on. Soon Raena would join our family, and hopefully your hearts. You’ve all welcomed her, and for that I’m grateful. As some of you have noticed and emailed us about, Dezi’s personality has changed. When we started all this, we determined to always be truthful, good, bad or otherwise; and you can continue to expect the same. Dezi faced the same loss as me when Lexi died, and it did affect her personality. At least I can reason it all out, Dezi doesn’t truly understand everything that happened. With the addition of Raena and Dezi becoming the “big sister”, her personality has continued to shift. These are all things to be expected. I imagine she will continue to evolve as Raena continues to learn and grow. Dezi’s still that sweet beautiful kitty girl you’ve all come to know and love, she’s just trying to find her way in our new dynamics. Those of you who read our blog regularly will be here to see how it all plays out. We imagine our blog will continue to evolve as the girls’ personalities take shape.
We do hope you will continue to follow us in the coming years. I know today is Blest Sunday, and we’ve had a multitude of material blessings this week and want to say Thank you very much. But I wanted to take today to thank you all for the biggest blessing in our lives, You. Yes, it’s been a rough year for us, but we have been blest every day to be a part of this community. We pray for all of you daily. We share your joyful times and your sad times. Many of you have felt the pain of loss this year, and will be missing one or more of you family/furry family members this Christmas. I’m not here to offer you advice on how to cope as I’m still reeling myself. But I do want to remind you, to take a minute and give thanks; we are all Blest. As long as we’re all here for each other, we’re never alone.
We would also like to thank you all for your kind words and Christmas wishes and cards. Some of you may have already received our card, and some of you may have gotten it more than once. I apologize if you receive(d) multiple emails from us, this old belles’ memory isn’t what it used to be. lol The girls and I want to thank you all for everything. And we wish you all a very Merry and Blest Christmas.
Dezi & Raena: Don’t furget Sunday Selfies with the Kitties Blue mommy.
Service Cats U.S. 
Those are beautiful blue eyes 🙂
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Audra, I think you are a very talented and insightful writer and I truly admire you. We all have hardships but you are brave enough to admit you need help and I feel you are truly grateful when it is given to you. You are an inspiration to me and I am hoping to get out of my own funk one of these days and start writing a blog of my own. But I have some personal things to deal with in my own life first. But maybe not. Maybe a blog would help me deal with those issues.
Every time I read your blog and hear from your exceptionally beautiful and smart, caring girls it gives me hope and a feeling of gratefulness for what I have. Maybe it’s time for you to turn some of your stories into a book and make the big bucks. Happy Holidays!!!
Love ya, Julie and Izzy
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Thank you Julie and Izzy. We are certainly grateful for each blessing we receive. I am still in awe at the love and generosity of our friends. Each box or gift is just like the first one. I pray we never get to a point of expecting, from anyone. Altho’ posting a thank you might be quicker, because I could take photos instead of cry, it just wouldn’t be me.
As for personal issues, I can’t know all you’re dealing with, but I can say that if you wait, you’ll never do it. I say that, because there will always be something. We’ve had lots of issues and problems since we started blogging, just like before. The difference now, is that we’re not alone. There are others, those friends like you, that care, and help us in so many ways. Sometimes just knowing someone is praying for you is all you need. Sometimes, a comment will make your day. As long as we’re living and breathing there will be problems, but sharing them and being supported, helps sooooooo much. Sometimes you feel like you’re drowning beneath it all, but somebody with a different perspective, someone on the outside looking in, just may have the answer you couldn’t find yourself. Anyways, just a thought.
I’m glad we can help you in any way. I know we look forward to hearing from you. I am trying desparately to write Lexi’s story, I’ve just gotten behind because of some of those personal issues. I don’t know if I’ll get rich from it, but that would be nice. MOL We pray you have a wonderful and blest Christmas. Know, you’re always in our prayers.
Love
Audra
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It was nice to have you write in your own voice today, Audra. The changing dynamics in any household when the members change is something most of us know amount. We know that you will do whatever is needed to continue to facilitate Dezi coming to terms wither new role. Thanks for hopping with us each week. Mom just finished writing our Christmas cards, and they will be mailed tomorrow. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
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Thank you so much for sharing your story of loss and love – beautiful! I lost my beloved Biltong before he turned 3 and am still trying to pick up the pieces (http://hairballsandhissyfits.com/rip-biltong-the-cat-very-loved-and-dearly-missed/) I know we are not supposed to have favorites but….and Zulu also reacted very badly- he would just sit and cry for hours — they were half brothers. Anyway it is always nice to be reminded that we cat bloggers are a family and share each others pan and joys! Thanks again for sharing!
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Thank you. I am so sorry for your loss. He was a very handsome boy. I so despise CKD and our limited knowledge about it and other feline ailments. I don’t know how, but we do eventually manage to pick up the pieces and carry on. I know the furry left behind, is a great help with that. Their needing of me helps me to overcome the depression. I determined a long time ago, after I lost Shad, that I could never again be a one cat house. If there was no one waiting on me, and needing me, I would never make it back from the edge. I am grateful for all our friends, and knowing I’m not alone in my feelings for my cats. We’re really glad we’ve found ya’ll and look forward to knowing you better. Big hugs to all.
Love
Audra
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Dear Dezi, Raena and Mom, We are wishing all of you a blessed and joyous holiday, and love having you in our lives! Pat, Maggie and Felix
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Thank you. We are so grateful to have ya’ll as friends. Blessings and warmest wishes to ya’ll.
Love
Audra
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I have to tell you, we smile lots when we see your post pop in and we’re always anxious to see what’s up with you and the girls. Y’all are very special to us and you all are a part of our family. Dezi and Raena are so adorable and Lexi touched our hearts. Holiday hugs from all of us.
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Thank you sooooooooooo much. Ya’ll are part of our family too and we’ll never be able to repay your generosity or thank you enough for what you did for Lexi. We love you all so very much. Big hugs from all of us to all of you.
Love
Audra
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What a beautiful, heartfelt post. We have met so many wonderful people through blogging and the blogosphere. We wish you all Happy Holidays…and more blessings than you could ever imagine.
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What a beautiful BLEST post. WE read all of your posts but we don’t always comment. As you may or may not know I’ve been dealing with a great many life changes in the past year and will continue on into 2017. It’s painful and depressing, so my commenting has been way way off for everyone, and so has my posting. I post daily still but I can’t write about things that are going on and who would want to read depressing stuff anyway. So I say all of that to let you know we do read and we pray for you girls. If we don’t get by before and we sure hope to, Merry Christmas.
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Thank you. We too read all of your posts. Sometimes we have trouble commenting, not sure why, and some days, we just don’t. I’ve been having a hard time lately and depressed as well, so we too are behind and not keeping up as we should. We thank you for your prayers and pray next year is better for all of us. Merry Christmas to ya’ll.
Love ya’
Audra
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Lexi and Bear truly look a lot alike. It’s almost been 10 years since I lost Kitty, and those years have been filled with Bear’s umm … excessive and robust personality … but I still miss Kitty so much it hurts. I miss her more quiet way of doing things … not instead of Bear, just alongside it. I’d never thought of how Bear changed after she left … but he did. I guess I’m trying to say that you aren’t alone – not in loss, not in the love you have for all living things, not for what you see in your cats, not in your experience of most of humanity … you aren’t alone. And the love you share and spread can’t help but echo back. I love that quote that essentially says, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” and that’s what I think you do. You show the love that the majority of the world doesn’t grasp … and by doing so, the people you touch change just a little bit too. Thank you for that first comment on our blog about Bear looking like Lexi … it captured my heart because I missed Kitty so much and I still felt weird talking about it. We didn’t send out cards … but as we do every other day of the year, Bear and I send all of you our love.
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Thank you. And thank you for not being angry that we made the comparison. There are just some photos we see of Bear and swear we could be looking at Lexi. And yes, I miss them all. They were all different but oh so special. I don’t think you ever get over the loss or the grief, you just eventually learn to dull it enough to get through the day without breaking down. I’m not quite there yet this time, and losing her, means I also lost what little I had left of Lucky, who was only 4 weeks older than her. They had been raised together. And thank you, for the first time in a long time, I no longer feel alone. I really didn’t know there were this many good people still left in the world, I for sure hadn’t come across them until we got the computer. I am sorry you have to miss Kitty, their lives are way too short. We are so glad we met ya’ll and are blest to call you friends. Big hugs to you both.
Love,
Audra and the girls
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Those who sow love, reap it. So thank YOU for sowing positive things.
May you have a wonderful holiday and may 2017 be the very best, yet.
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Thank you Jeanne. We are so happy to have ya’ll as friends. We pray your Christmas is Blest and the New Year brings you health and happiness.
Love
Audra
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Thank you! We’ll have a house full.
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