A Tribute to Ziggy Marley Zerquera

When Sergio and I were dating… probably in 1994… we decided to get a kitten. I was working at Barnett Bank on Palm Beach Island at the time. Sergio went to the Palm Beach County Animal Control Shelter to check things out. He called me later that after noon and said, “Well, I found two kittens. One is so fluffy with about 4 colors to her fur and has nice blue eyes! The other one is black. Which one do you want me to get?” Well from the descriptions that I was given, it was evident which cat Sergio wanted so I played like I didn’t have a clue and said, “Gee, that one with the blue eyes sounds nice!” That was it, Sergio went back and picked up the little kitten who, instead of sleeping on a nice towel in her cage, was all curled up… in her litter box! We should have known right there that she wasn’t playing with a full deck. We named her Ziggy Marley Zerquera. (Yes, my pets HAVE to have a middle name!) Ziggy was an adorable kitten and would fall asleep in some of the funniest positions and places! As she grew, we realized that she was a Maine Coon cat and remained very beautiful. Ziggy lived in 3 different locations in West Palm Beach, she moved with us to Michigan where she lived in Ypsilanti and Belleville, took a road trip to New Hampshire with us, back to West Palm Beach, then on to Greenacres and lastly, Jupiter Farms, Florida. What a traveler and adjuster! Ziggy would sit on your lap and purr while you pet her… then sometimes…suddenly, the attack was on and you were bleeding. Some guests were very timid to pet her! When Summer Skye came into the picture, Ziggy was none too happy! Until the day she passed on to kitty heaven, Summer remained deathly afraid of her! I could call Summer to the front door and she would take off running to go outside…. But… if Ziggy happened to be near the door, Summer would put her brakes on and come to a screeching halt so she didn’t have to pass by Ziggy. Ziggy lived to be 15 years old. She became very thin, only 5 pounds and was hardly anything but fur and bones. She also started to have regular seizures and was lethargic and disoriented. I made the decision to not let her suffer and she went to kitty cat heaven on June 15, 2009. What a hard thing to do. I won’t tell her to rest in piece but rather to chase those mice up in kitty heaven. Goodbye my friend.