Hi Skeeter, this is Chloe speaking up from snowy Virginia.
 
I wanted to write you because tomorrow is a very special/sad day for my
dad.  See, 1998 wasn't a very good year for dad.  It all started last
January (1998).  I wasn't even here at that time (although I wish I had
been since my life really became funtastic after dad adopted me, but that's
another story).  At the time, dad had three of us fuzzies ... Bandit,
Slinky and Rascal.  I met Bandit and Slinky when I joined the family in May
of 1998 but I never met Rascal.  She looks like a real pretty ferret if the
pics on the table near my cage are any indication.  But I'm getting ahead
of myself.
 
Anyway, Rascal was much like me.  Or so dad says.  She was the firebrand of
the family.  Miss Mischief.  That's me too, but I'm not the point of the
story.  She made dad laugh by doing all her antics and just running around.
She would jump all over Bandit and Slinky too ... sounds like fun.  But dad
started noticing Rascal wheezing and gasping for breath at times and took
her to see Dr. Slack.  The prognosis was not good ... lymphosarcoma.  It
was real bad .... a large mass was pressing against her windpipe causing
the wheezing.  Dr. Slack put her on prednisone but it only delayed the
inevitable.
 
For nearly a month dad gave Rascal her medicine.  Towards the end he had to
hand feed her to ensure she got enough to eat.  It was hard on him.  Rascal
finally went to the bridge on March 9, 1998.  Dad was with her as she
slipped beyond this world.  It nearly crushed him.  He wanted to do so much
for her but also felt guilty for possibly selfishly keeping her here with
him as the cancer took her.
 
[continued...]
Skeeter:
 
Sorry bout sending the first letter incomplete!  I got carried away and my
paw hit the send button.
 
Anyways, today is the anniversary of Rascal passing.  So I wanted to ask
you to say hi to her for me and dad.  Bandit and Slinky are also over there
with you.  Bandit passed over on July 6 1998 and Slinky on December 11
1998.  I was there for their passings and it was real sad.  Bandit got
the ECE bug in May and never quite recovered.  Dad spent so much time and
effort feeding him, medicating him and even giving him subQ fluids.  All
to no avail.
 
Slinky had Insulinoma and was doing great until she developed a concurrent
case of hyperglycemia (diabetes).  Her kidneys just could not handle the
stress.
 
So, Skeeter, 1998 wasn't a very good year for dad.  Except of course that I
picked him as my dad.  We enjoy being a family and have a real good time
together.  But this anniversary brings back memories of the pain from a
year ago.
 
If you could, say hi to the Tres Amigos (Bandit, Slinky and Rascal) from me
and my dad.  Let them know that dad misses them very much and still very
much loves them.  Dad has this collage of pictures of Rascal near my cage
to remember her by.  He has Bandit's favorite sqeek toy (he still sqeeks it
from time to time, Bandit, hoping that you'll come running from your hidey
hole as you always did) and Slinky's favorite blankie (the one he put on
the garment bag under the bed that you always loved to sleep on, Slinky) as
mementos too.
 
That's about it for now.  My whiskers are getting wet and I haven't even
been near the water bowls.  SIGH.  Anyway, just wanted to wave hi to you,
Skeeter...
 
>>waves<<
 
Bye!
 
Chloe
[Posted in FML issue 2610]