I want to share an incredible experience I had with a little life.  I
believe animals are the angels here to protect us, love us, make us feel
purpose.  Sometimes this life is hard, I do not see the point.  Then I
remember, I have to feed my fuzzies and my dogs.  I have to love them.
Mickey, my friend, past away yesterday.  We always want our friends and
family, if they are ill, tp pass on in their sleep..the most gentle way
to go.The hardest part of that is he died alone.  Was he in pain?  Why
couldn't I have been there for him, but this is not about me.  It is about
this incredible gift I was given in 1992, in Houston, Texas.He joined a
family of two others..Jessie and KC.  They became the three muskateers.
Mickey had a gentle soul, unlike Jessie who was into anything and
everything.  He loved to be held and his ears rubbed.  He also loved
sleeping in my bed with me, curling up in the crook of my leg.  Sometimes
he preferred falling asleep on my chest.Last year both Jessie and KC died.
After KC died, he was never the same.  He instantly was afflicted with
giardia and it never seemed to go away.  For two months I hand fed him
twice a day.  I was not ready to lose another one!  I adobted a ferret
thinking it would help..he hated poor Abby.Mickey only wanted contact from
me and Scott.  Amazingly, it wasn't unil the last few weeks I started to
realize he would be better off if he past on.  He slept all the time and
the giardia took its toll on his little body.I guess when I, in my head,
let him go he was ready.Is is so clear, his love for his two friends he
lost last year.  He did not want to go on with his own life.  It's so hard
to remember when he was well, but I had a neat experience to help me to
remember.  A student of mine asked me to care for her 3 month old ferret.
So yesterday I brought Waldo home.  And in the same moment when I sat on
the couch, distrought about just finding Mickey, there was Waldo and Denny
(another ferret I adopted), rough housing, running into walls, doing flips,
jumping all around and grunting.  Then I remembered how Mickey use to be
before his illness.  But more than that, how God is wonderful for giving me
this gift right now at this moment.  I know now Mickey's spirit lives on in
me and all who knew Mickey.Now, I envision him running wild with KC and
Bufus in a field of tall grass, slithering through the grass, jumping and
playing with each other...no illness, no lonliness and no pain.  Thank you
Mickey for the greatest gift any living being can give another living
being, sharing your life with me.
 
I love this internet stuff, I feel like sharing this story about my friend
immortalizes his life.  Thank you for letting me share this with you.
[Posted in FML issue 2701]