Hi, all-
 
I met a little guy coming across the Bridge the other day.  His name was
Frosty Pants.  He was a beautiful dark eyed white ferret.  His Mommy Mary
Jo said he was gorgeous, and she was right!  Strong, lots of muscles,
glosst white fur, like a loooong, smooth polar bear!
 
I had to have a little talk with him before he went to meet his Sister in
Fur Sassy Britches, and his Business of Bilbo and Frodo.  The Big Boss
helped me with the talking part, because Frosty was born deaf.  He needed
to make a decision.  Did he want to hear, or not.  It's one thing to have
something lost restored, it's something else altogether to have something
new introduced for the first time.
 
Well, Frosty lay down beneath the blossoming lilac bush near the Bridge.
(Sometimes it's white, sometimes it's lilac, we never know from day to
day!  At least the cherry tree stays the same.)
 
He sat and he thought for a long time, I wish I knew what he was
thinking.  It must be a hard decision, but of course the Big Boss will
change things around if the newbie isn't happy with the result.
 
Frosty finally looked over his shoulder at me from where I was lying down
nearby, scratching behind my ear with my back foot.  He shook his head
back and forth one time.  No.  He wanted to stay the way he was.
 
No problem!  I whistled and Sassy Britches galloped over to me.  She took
one look in the grass beneath the lilac and she rocketed over to her
brother Frosty!  The two both popped up to begin a war dance.  They
collided in mid air, about a foot over the ground.  They spun in the air,
fell, rolled, bit, rolled some more, and wrestled around for a long time.
Fur flew away on the breeze.
 
This may sound like war, but it was love, pure love!  Sassy Britches was
the only ferret that Frosty Pants ever, ever liked.  I noticed that Bilbo
and Frodo were hanging back, off to the side.  They didn't seem to be in
any hurry to get closer!
 
Finally, Frosty Pants looked over to where Bilbo, Frodo and I were
grouped.  He pushed his sister's leg off of his lead and rose up to get
a good look at us.  He stared at Bilbo and Frodo for a long time.
 
They both started edging away, nervously.  Finally, Frosty sighed, and
called them forward with one of his front paws.  They walked over to him,
slowly, noses to the ground.  Evidently they were WELL AWARE that Frosty
loved his sister, but not any other ferrets.  Not by a long shot!
 
Well, Frosty and Bilbo, then Frosty and Frodo, touched noses, gently.
Their duty done, the two boys took off like streaks of greased lightning!
More fur flew away in the breeze behind them.
 
Finally, just Frosty Pants and Sassy Britches lay together in the grass,
having a conversation of light touches and smells that I'm sure made
perfect sense to them, they were so attuned to one another.
 
Well, I had more work to do.  Sassy Britches promised me that she would
help Frosty Pants with his wings later on.  I saw them flying away
together later that day.  He sure did look beautiful in those new, crisp
white wings!
 
I met a little guy coming across the Bridge, too.  His name was Tigger.
His Brother in Fur Smokey was waiting with me, very excited!  Well, the
two met with a gentle nose touch, and spoke quietly together for a while.
Smokey told his brother what had happened, and that this was where they
would live, now, forever.  He also told Tigger that their Mommy had made
sure that they would be together forever in the World of the Living, too,
by burying Tigger's tired out body next to Smokey's beneath the mesquite
tree.
 
Tigger hung his head and shed a few quiet tears, so did Smokey.  They lay
down in the grass side by side, and said nothing.  This wasn't a time for
words.
 
I gave them lots of room for this reunion, lots of space.  Sometimes
grieving and greeting and healing all happen at the same time.  Those
weren't bad tears, they were good ones.  It had been very hard on Tigger
when Smokey had crossed the Bridge, but everything was good, now.  They
have each other, and they always will.
 
The hard moment passed, and soon both were telling me about their Mommy,
Laurie, and all the love she gave them, and to her other Fur Children, of
all kinds.
 
You know, well...no, hoomins, you don't know how much your love means to
your Fur Children.  You will never know, until someday, a long time from
now, when they will meet you again, and tell you themselves.  Thank you,
hoomins.  You do have a lot of good in you, even though you have the
*worst* sense of smell!
 
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 4411]