Sandee
 
Our hearts are soooo heavy on this most tragic of days, as our nation
mourns a much larger loss, we mourn a much smaller one, that seems every
bit as big.  For the second time this month, our tribe has given one of
its own over to the Bridge Gang...those rascals who eagerly await our
earthy infirm so's to make them better and brighter and busher'tailer
than ever!  Here she comes...Abba, you keepin a sharp lookout, girl?
 
So, as I wipe my tears of sorrow away for dear little Bopper...little
splay-butt, little Digger girl...little Cobra or S-s-s-s-snake (she
claimed more than one nose placed too close within striking range...much
to her chortling delight each time!) as she gently faded away in my hands
on the way to the vets (into a coma I'm told), I know that she will be
eagerly greeted by those who have gone before, even those from the
"other" tribe in the downstairs condo...because on the other side of the
bridge, all thought of factions are forgotten as the tangle becomes one
big family once again...alliances forgotten for good.
 
Bopper came to us many years ago (at least 7) from parts unknown through
a close friend and was always a bit of a loner...except to us of course.
She loved to be carried aloft in a hand and would clamp onto your wrist
with her hind legs with glee (hence the moniker Splaybutt...she would
hold her legs apart like a skunk and then latch on to you for dear life
it would seem..looking around the room from her perch on high as she was
totoed around the room...far above the others!!!  Ahhh, such a little
queen!
 
And the nose game...well, she had an invisible few inches where she
would lure you in within range as you would just look at her and coo and
chortle and go...aren't you the cutest little thing I ever saw (she was a
little one...never going over 2 pounds...usually just around a pound and
a half!)and she would size you up and then strike out and "staple" your
nose with just one quick bite...ZAP...and then she would chortle and talk
and if you'd set her down she'd go into a weasel war dance and just was
so proud of herself.  Meanwhile...you'd be reaching for a handy Kleneex
and wiping the tears away and muttering somethingunder breath about never
again...yeah right..until the next time she'd suck you into her little
trap.  Ah, the training some of us NEVER go through...and we complain
that they miss the box sometimes...hmmm...seems like we're the ones that
never get trained.
 
Of course, in later years the Adrenal problems settled in and life became
a battle that she never once complaoned about...as most of her kind
don't.  Playful up till the last few weeks, she just kind of wound down,
event ho most of her fur was long gone and she was a Naked Mole Rat that
only a parent could love.  In the end, her beloved Bounder was curled up
around her nightly as they burrito'd in for warmth.
 
Hurry across that bridge little one, for THEY are waiting to smother you
in a blithery flitherry flurry of fur.  Go....
 
Putorius, Cp, Bounder, Brando (Big Boy), Bonnie, Wing-nut, Giggabyte and
PAL.  And lets not forget the KATZ too, those valuable and understated
fuzzy furry toys!
[Posted in FML issue 4634]