The story of "Slinky" was so sad- it reminded me of my "Wolf".  He was a
found ferret in 1985 and was already an adult.  We estimated his age to be
between 9mo- 2yrs.  I worked at a public library at the time and Wolf and
Sable were frequent visitors to the children's section for pet day.  In
fact, Wolf was the unofficial mascot!  One open pet day at the library we
estimated he was stroked and held by at least 100 kids!  He loved the kids
and all the attention.  Wolf and Sable were constant companions in the car,
out for walks (Sable was a shoulder ferret).  Sable died of Lymphosarcoma at
4 years.  Wolf's new cagemate was Sasha.  Anyway long story short- Wolf
crossed the Bridge in Feb 1995.  His age was estimated at 11 years (he was
MF!!).  Wolf was there thru a nasty divorce, the loss of my house, a couple
new jobs, all the rescued ferrets, and maintained a temperament of happiness
and love of life.  He died of insulinoma, and I have to admit, I built a
wooden box for "Woofie" and I placed him in the box with his favorite
"woobie" (anyone see Mr.  Mom???  knows thats a favorite blanket), a rose,
his hot dog squeak toy and a silver eagle and I buried him in a nearby park.
The coin is there so that he can pay Charon the ferryman to pay his way
across the river Styx.  Greek mythology says that anyone not buried with a
coin is forever cursed to not enter the Underworld.  Sad to say, Wolfie has
since been joined by Nicodemus, Shadow, Mambo, Skyler, Chico and Squeakers.
Some were rescues; others my own; but all received a silver eagle dated the
year of their death.  Some may say I'm crazy to do this, but to me its a
form of love and respect for the light and laughter they provided in my life
while they passed through it.  Play on dear friends, and I hope that when I
pass over I will be surrounded by all the loves that stayed such a short
time.  The waterboys have a song that I remember the line from "...  you
came like a comet, blazing your trail...you reached too high, too far, too
fast....  I saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon..".  It fits the
fuzzies to a "T".
 
Lisa and the mighty 13
[Posted in FML issue 1489]