It was a little over two weeks ago that I posted to wish my Lily a happy
8th birthday.  Now it is with a heavy heart that I am posting to wish her a
peaceful journey to the bridge.
 
Lily was my second fert; I got her my Senior year of college at a
small-town Iowa pet store as a playmate for my first fert, Fossa.  She
was the tiniest little albino girl you ever did see... the pet store
owner told me she was the runt of a litter... sometimes I suspect she was
a Ruby Fur Farms reject.  She was none too nice either and was a real biter
for several years after.  Eventually, though, she calmed down quite a bit
and -- though she was mostly a loner and did not seem to care for people
or other ferrets -- was a fabulous kisser.
 
I can remember one time when my friend (and fellow carpet shark "chum"),
Stacy, and I were sitting in my apartment, watching TV or something... Lily
had a favorite chair, which had a gap of only about 1 inch under it, but it
was just enough for Lily -- and only Lily -- to sneak under a curl up for a
nap.  Anyway, Stacy was sitting in Lily's favorite chair, I on the couch.
The other ferts were out bouncing around when we heard scratching coming
from under Lily's chair.  Stacy began to poke her fingers under the front
of the chair and I tried to warn her that that might not be a great idea...
Lily latched on to Stacy's finger and would not let go.  Unfortunately,
Stacy had leaned forward and reached down in between her legs.  It was
rather like a panicked game of Twister: Stacy trying to maneuver herself
out of the chair while not increasing the damage to her finger... me trying
to lift the front of the chair (with Stacy still half-sitting in it) to
remove Lily and release the death-grip.  Now that I look back on it I can
laugh; she definitely got the better of us.
 
A little over two years ago, Lily's oldest friend, Fossa, passed to the
bridge and I could tell that Lily's health began to decline a little.  Over
the course of the next year, she gradually went blind in both eyes.  Last
February, her favorite napping partner, Socrates, succumbed to a very
aggressive combination of cancers.  Again, her health began a steady
decline.  Recently, she had just not had a lot of energy and spent almost
all of her time sleeping.
 
On Thursday evening, I returned home from work at 9PM, turned on the lights
in the ferret room, changed their water, and refreshed their food supply
before settling down to one of my favorite TV shows.  All the ferts -- Lily
included -- woke up and began bouncing around their room.  I went in and
spent about an hour playing with them (except for Lily -- she never
"played," only gave kisses).  At about 1:30AM, I was getting ready to go to
sleep and peeked in on the ferret room.  Lily was lying next to the door
breathing raggedly and half-asleep.  I picked her up and took her to the
couch with me.  We lay there together until about 2:20 AM, when her
breathing slowed down and -- eventually -- stopped.
 
When I could pull myself together enough, I took Lily into the ferret room
so that everyone could say their good-byes.  Oscar wouldn't even look at
her.  Witzy sniffed her and then begged to be picked up.  Tripod Bob -- who
had been a playmate/mortal enemy for 6-1/2 years -- went over, sniffed her
and lay down beside her.  Cody, my little baby, nudged her several times
and then began to walk away, turned around, nudged her again, walked away,
and just looked back, waiting for her to follow.
 
Sandee, please greet Lily.  She will have her best friends Fossa and
Socrates waiting there for her; I'm sure that they will want to hear the
news from home and know all about the 3 new kids.  She may also run into
her friends Toby, Milo, and Homer.  Tell Lily that I love and miss her
very much and hope that she feels better now.
 
-- Andy, Cody, Oscar, Witzy, and Tripod Bob
[Posted in FML issue 3347]