Guess I'm just plain tired of lurking in anonymity so I changed my server
and have a new address!  Here is my intro and some things I want to say
to members of this list.
 
My name is Judella Cooke-I prefer Judy but most family members call me
Della.  The day we brought our ferrets home, my daughter dubbed them
"tumbleweeds" as they rumbled, bumbled, stumbled, and tumbled everywhere!!
Hence-Della and the Tumbleweeds.
 
I am owned by my sweet, gentle Tyson, and the sly and
too-smart-for-his-own-good Einstein!  I was recently blessed with the joy
of Hope.  They are my dream ferrets!  I also share my life with a variety
of other animals-9 total and I have a human husband and 2 human children.
My son is a United States Marine and my daughter is 14.
 
I believe that not "all" pet stores are evil.  I do not believe you are
evil if you "impulse buy" a ferret from a pet store.  I totally agree that
MF and other big breeders use unsafe practices in their breeding methods
and should be shut down-but I cannot find fault with the actual ferrets.
Two of mine are MF and they are the sweetest, most gentle creatures I have
ever had the privilege of loving.  I do not believe that ferrets are
"children" or can be a substitute for children.  My ferrets are the stars
in my sky but today, my daughter is growing and learning.  Tomorrow she
may walk on Mars or discover the cure for cancer.  Today, my ferrets are
playing and dooking.  Tomorrow-they will be doing the same.  And I believe
that each and every situation should be judged on it's own!  The world is
not black and white-it is a wondrous variety of color!  These are my
beliefs-get your own.  No amount of name-calling will change my mind and I
will not argue to change your beliefs-they are yours-please keep them!!
 
Through this list I have met some wonderful people and my goal is to meet
more.  Meeting CJ, Josephine and Erin in Las Vegas last year was great!
I am headed that way the end of January and hope to see you all again.
Meeting Pat Andrews from PA was extremely rewarding and Kat Parsons, what
can I say?  You are just too special!!  The HOFA angels changed my life and
gave me Hope!  Jeanne-I think you and I should become great friends and one
weekend this summer we should jump in the Explorer and go meet Rebecca!!
Sound like a plan?  Lynn, I will probably be headed that way to see my son
sometime in the near future-I'd drive a couple hundred miles out of my way
to meet you!!  Hopefully, I will be Florida-bound later in the year-Barb
and Melissa-lets do lunch!!!!  And Monkey Face-don't know that I'll ever
have a reason to be in Oregon-but if I am-we'll have to share some
scones!!!!  Tequita, Laurel, Fran and Alicia-your support and words of
encouragement and friendship mean more than you will ever know!
 
Then there are the people on this list that have impacted my life and I am
sure the lives of many of us!!  Bob C.-you truly have to be one smartest
men alive-but BOB-BEE RAY-it's your wit and humor I long for!  Troy Lynn
and Sukie-the respect I have for you is endless-your intelligence,
knowledge and devotion are amazing!  Judith Moon and Lisette-your
sensitivity and compassion are inspiring.  So many give so much to this
list and I hope that they realize how much we have learned and hopefully,
will continue to learn from them!  My boys celebrated their 1st birthday in
December and I can honestly say that had I not had this list-I'd a been up
a creek several times!!  So to all of you who help to make this list what
it is-a big dook to you and a sincere thank you!  And to BIG-you deserve so
much more than anyone will ever be able to repay you by keeping this whole
thing together!  I think the coming year will be a great one!  Hopefully
there will be further advances in ferret health care, more ferret education
and more people turned on to the joy these creatures add to our lives-thus
providing more homes for the homeless!  Together we can change the world!!
 
Happy New Year!!
Della and the Tumbleweeds
Judy Cooke
Tyson, Einstein and Hope
 
"The world is made up for the most part of morons and natural tyrants, sure
of themselves, strong in their own opinions, never doubting anything."
Clarence Darrow
[Posted in FML issue 2916]