Remembering Janis - Cat Lovers Christmas Challenge

Good morning, everyone!  I have been absent from my blog for several months but decided to come back in October for the Cat Lovers Christmas Challenge to honour our dear friend Janis Woolbright, who passed away unexpectedly in January 2023.  When Jo at Christmas Kickstart Challenge invited me to help out, I thought it was the purrfect way to remember Janis.

Today is Day 2 of the Challenge entitled All About Janis.  Jo has invited us to share our memories of Janis in the comments of that blog post.  Please head over and share yours.

What do I remember about Janis?  My first thoughts are that Janis loved cats, her family, her church, making cards, blogging, and that she organized the annual Cat Lovers Hop.  As a cat lover myself, this was the highlight of my crafting year!  I joined every year for 8 years.  

The Cat Lovers Hop wasn't just a blog hop. Janis made it special.  It was a week-long event where Janis invited us to get together to share our cat stories, our cat cards, cat layouts, and other crafty cat projects.  

Janis wanted to read about the cats in our lives and also memories of our departed kitties.  Tears were shed each year as I read everyone's stories and as I remembered my own kitties of the past.  Janis provided a space for all of this during the Cat Lovers Hop.  She was compassionate, kind, and supportive.

Most of all, Janis made the Cat Lovers Hop fun!  It was great fun, with daily games and challenges that helped us all connect.  Janis even had us try our hand at poetry, and she inspired us to write poems about our cats. This was tough for me but I enjoyed it so much, and enjoyed reading everyone else's poems.

Another happy memory is that Janis would visit everyone's card or project in the link-up and would leave a thoughtful comment, not just a quick "cute card."   You knew that Janis took the time to actually look at the details of your card or project and remarked on what she liked about it.  In short, Janis cared.

Janis was also a pro at organizing.  Although she had helpers with the hop each year, Janis did most of it herself, and it was a lot of work.  As busy as she was, she was patient and took the time to answer everyone's questions with kindness.  I never met Janis personally, so we only connected through email or her blog, but I know Janis was a Christian and we shared our love of the Lord.  We would pray for each other as well.

One last memory is that Janis had a great sense of humour and she loved cat memes!  She would share cat memes on nearly every blog post, not just during the Cat Lovers Hop, but all the time!  Janis was a lot of fun!  So in memory of Janis, I would like to share a few cat memes that I collected.  Enjoy!

Rest in peace, Janis.