tiki, our little old lady, died in her sleep at the beginning of march.
she was 10 years old, and had insulinoma, lymphoma and a heart murmur.
 
when she first came home with us from ann ryan's @ fuzztek, dr. kim in nj
wasn't sure that she'd live very long.  at that point, she was around 4
or 5, and was terribly malnourished.  yvonne, that amazing human being,
nursed her back to health, and she lived a whole other lifetime with us.
for all of this we are deeply greatful.
 
we've been delinquent in picking up her ashes, which makes me feel like a
bad parent.  our car was on it's last legs when tiki took suddenly to the
serious part of her illness, and the only time we used the car was to take
her to the vet and get things she needed.  we not longer have a car, and
getting there is a bit hard for us now.  i've thought about having her
mailed, but it seems so disrespectful in my mind.  i think about her every
day, and taking so long to pick up her ashes seems just as disrespectful.
 
thinking about her today, i thought up a haiku in triptich.
 
Tiki has travelled on.
Senator shows her the way
'round the Rainbow Bridge.
 
see, "the senator" was a ferret that our friend siggy owned.  she was
euthanized not long ago because the cancer was too much for her little
body.
 
Sit in this pool here.
Cookie Crisp all you can eat!
Next to the raisins.
 
the senator had a serious thing for cookie crisp cereal.  tiki was a
hardcore junk food junkie before she lived with us.  we figure the senator
and tiki are lounging in the cookie crisp pool at the bridge, talking it
up. :)
 
Tiki can bounce now!
Cheerios make her miss home.
We miss you too, Boo.
 
when tiki first came home with us, before she spent time in food rehab
with yvonne, all she would eat on her own was cheerios and french fries.
duck soup and mush were force-fed.  needless to say, after her rehab, she
ate only totally ferret, with the occassional cheerio or raisin.  now
she's lounging in the cheerio pool a-snackin', while the senator is next
to her in the cookie crisp pool.  lucky little devils.
 
our little lovely was also known as tikaboo, or tikaboo bunny, or just
plain boo.  it's funny, corey's sister sent us bamboo after tiki died,
since tiki had always had such good luck with us, and had brought us such
good luck.  we have taken to calling the bamboo "the tikaboo", and we care
for it the same loving way we cared for her.
 
haiku can be very therapeutic.  so can writing to the FML. :)
 
andrea
 
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"and every step of the way your mood brightens
so keep on goin' now, don't be frightened"
 
     "horizon" by ashby
     from the album _power ballads_
 
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[Posted in FML issue 3754]