Just wanted to thank everyone for the nice e-mails and virtual postcards
regarding Buddy.  I will print each one out and include them in his journal
before I close it out.  Some of you might remember that I start a journal
for each one of my pets; I use one of those bound notebooks you can get at
most book stores.  Inside I record all information, shots, amusing stories,
photographs, old rabies tags, etc.  I also record the cause of death when
possible, as well as the deposition of the bady.
 
Today a vet-student friend of mine did Buddy's necropsy, and found he had an
invasive cancer that had affected most of his major organs.  She made some
slides, but we won't view them until later next week.  One of the vets at
the school remarked that it was unusual for an animal to survive so long
with that degree of organ involvement, but Buddy was a strong and hardheaded
guy.
 
My vet school friend will study Buddy's body to learn ferret anatomy, and
when finished, will return the bones to me.  I will place his osteological
remains in a comparative collection to be used in efforts to understand the
origin of the domesticated ferret, and for some studies I am doing on the
differences between the bones of domesticated ferrets and wild polecats so
they might be recognized in archaeological samples.  Some might think this
bizarre, but I've already legally donated my own skeleton to science, so I'm
not doing anything with my beloved pets that I don't do to myself.  I
believe some good will come of the respectful scientific use of the remains,
Buddy's or mine.
 
One of my e-mails remarked about all the nastiness that has happened to me
recently.  Well, that's life.  I went a long time with very little adversity,
so now it is balancing out.  I could say stuff like, "what doesn't kill you
makes you stronger," or "your reaction to adversity is a reflection of your
character," or even "Sh*t happens," but since I AM a character, am full of
sh*t, and am a weakling, it doesn't matter.  I just plow through it the best
I can, knowing sooner or later the pendulum will swing back.
 
I simply cannot thank everyone by name in the FML, but I especially wanted
to thank "Rudy" Bob Rudlich for his very helpful suggestions, Troy Lynn
Eckart for just being the delightful sprite she is, Bev Fox who mails
wonderful jokes to cheer me up, Debra Nelson for being such a good friend
and doing the same, and for the rest of the FML for all the Limericks and
"Bumper Stickers;" they are fantastic therapy!
 
Bob "Mo' Bob" Church (AKA: Ferretimaniac) and his 17 remaining Fuzzbutts:
Apollo, Ballistic, Bear, Chrys, Crystal, Daye, Foster, Fraggle, Moose,
Nosette, Razz, Sam-Luc, Sandy, Simon, Stella, Tori, and Trillian (In memory
of Gus and Buddy)
[Posted in FML issue 1865]