Dave and I would like to thank everyone for their condolences on Elektra's
passing. You all are wonderful...we feel like we're part of one great big
family.
 
Even though Dave wasn't as close to Elektra as I was, he wrote this and
mentioned I could post it, so here goes:
 
Dear Elektra,
 
When I met you, you were definitely Amy's ferret.  Were you one of the ones
fascinated by the sweat and trail dust of my hiking boots?  Probably not --
it was more your style to accidently enter them after another ferret had
knocked them over.  Most people though, would never have guessed you were
blind except for the occasional mishap.
 
I don't think we understood each other at first.  If I tried to hold you
you'd ask to be let down -- "I sleep a lot, and when I'm awake I have things
to do!" Which was fine -- get down and play with me.  "No -- *ferret*
things!"
 
Chief among these tasks was storing my socks properly, a task which I was
obviously incompetent to do correctly myself.
 
Why should you have trusted a guy like that who also lived in a ferret-free
zone and *then* had the unmitigated gall to babysit a **cat**!
 
While your animosity toward the feline persuasion remained intact to the end
(as well as your undefeated record, even though you generally weighted in at
less than a pound), I am proud to claim that we became the best of friends.
 
You discovered that I could cook up yummy human food just the way you like
it.  And that I had a way with neck-scratching.  Eventually, I was thrilled
that I was considered a worthy place to sleep, if only once in a while.
 
Rest in peace, my little friend. I will miss you.
 
Love,
 
Dave
 
P.S.  If I get to Heaven and there are no cats, I'll know you got
there first.
 
----
 
Sidney will soon be celebrating his fourth birthday, and he's been deaf
since day 1.  He's a BEW.  He was also a screamer at first (NOOO -- don't
leave me) and is the only one who dooks very loudly.  However, his sister is
a BEW and doesn't seem to be deaf at all.  Go figure.
 
I know pandas and blazes have that tendency (also the tendency for
Waardenburg's), but I don't know if we have a definitive answer for BEWs.
 
Oh, and I HATE SNOW!
 
Amy & Dave (and their gaggle of giggling ferrets)
RIP Ian and Elektra
[Posted in FML issue 1447]