Goodbye Empress

In our 1.75 years of blogging, we've never done a tribute to someone else's blog. Well actually that's not completely accurate since we have done a few postings about those that have gone on to The Bridge, but this is different.

It is with a heavy heart that today we say a fond farewell to one of our all-time favorite bloggers. Although thankfully still very much alive, international celebrity feline and award-winning blogger Empress Kukka-Maria has announced her decision to step out of the glare of the white-hot spotlight and resume her quiet life in suburban Michigan. The entire blogosphere has been dreading this day, as we are forced to say goodbye to someone we love.

Truthfully, we don't remember how we found her, but now we wonder how we'll get through each day without her. My brother Max and I were honored she chose us to be among her famed Tomcat Stable. Despite her occasional critics, our love and devotion have been constant and if she needs us, a call will bring us to her side any time, day or night. My sisters Tipper and Misty consider her a friend, not a phony BFF like those hangers-on that always surrounded her.

"Scandal, drama, heartbreak" hardly begins to describe the almost daily confessions and many times we laughed so hard, we cried. The creativity and pictures were hilarious, and certainly more than a few eyebrows were raised with the revelation that the handsome, young, OCD housemate "brother" Brach Lee is actually her husband! We'll miss reading about your life as a jet-setter, Kukka, while Brach guarded the homefront and solved mysteries ala Adrian Monk!

But, eventually things change and, even though we would happily continue on, we're forced to change, too.

So, to you dear Kukka, Brach & Agent, we say thank you. You've definitely made yourselves memorable! Your devoted public can only hope that after a well-deserved vacation, you'll reconsider your decision and join us again, if only on a part-time basis. Failing that, at least leave a comment now and then so we know you're still out there, hiding from the paparazzi!