Hi all--
 
I think I posted ecstatically around Christmas time that my SO's ex-wife and
her family and his children had a ferret, and I was so relived because the
ferrets gave us all something immediately in common ... (important to note
that my SO and his ex have been estranged for almost 6 long years--no
contact, what-so-ever--and I've been with Dave since shortly after his
separation ...)
 
Well, the ex and family moved back to MN shortly after Christmas, got
settled in a town 3 hours from us, and came to visit last weekend!
 
I can't even tell you what it was like, to see these not-so-little versions
of my SO in my house calling him dad.  His daughter Crissy, is 7, and his
son, David Jr is 6.  Amazing.
 
We sent them pics of the ferrets, and Crissy came into our house, spied the
ferret cage, and went to it immediately, telling me "I want to hold
Princess.  Which one is Princess?" It was crazy here, what with meeting
Dave's ex-wife and 19 year old step daughter and his children all at once,
and then his step-son and girlfriend here, too ... so we had 6 adults, two
children, and 4 of 5 ferrets all busy in my living room at the same time.
Wow!  Talk about mass confusion!  But it was exciting and terrific.  Chalk
one up to ferret ambassadors--nothing breaks the ice like a few ferrets
running around busily meeting everyone and creating comfortable chaos.
Whew.
 
I imagine with horror what the situation might have been if they weren't
ferret people, and, worse, if they were afraid and suspicious of ferrets--
they'd never have understood how we managed to acquire 5 of the little
buggers!  But it didn't work that way.  Instead, the ferrets gave everyone a
common frame of reference, something to talk about, and laugh about, and all
in all, made what could have been a very uncomfortable meeting into a very
comfortable one.
 
I treasure my fuzzies.  They have helped me get through with flying colors
more than one difficult meeting.  A few years ago I was meeting my half
brothers for the first time.  My birth mom had warned me that the younger
boy was slow to warm up to new people, but he was an animal nut, so I
brought a ferret with when I met them.  Again, instant positive contact
with a child ...  and he wasn't slow to warm up at all.
 
Fuzzies rule!
 
Everyone take care,
 
--Sheri
[Posted in FML issue 2210]