Hi, all.
 
This is the time of year that we have cranberry sauce in the Fruit Bar.
I love that stuff!  But not as much as a little albino girl I met the
other day named Ivory.  Her Business of Ferris, Beulah, Flower, Blizzard,
Bump, Stimpy, Twister, Stretch (who now has a beautiful, shiny coat!),
Gizmo, and Frosty *all* told her not to eat with her new wings on, but
she was so excited to have them, and so excited to see old friends that
she didn't listen.  Now she isn't really an albino anymore.  Most of her
head and shoulders, as well as both of her front paws are pink from the
cranberry sauce!  Oh, well, no real harm done.  I'm going to get her a
new set of clean white wings once all of the pink wears off of her.
 
All of us flew to the shore with Ivory after we ate.  We rolled in the
hot, soft sand.  It feels so good against your back!  True, sand does
get into your fur, but It's worth it.
 
Ivory wants her Mommy Sandi to know that just as she waited to say
goodbye, now she is waiting to say hello, a long time from now.  Ivory
wants to splash in the jade green surf with her Mommy, and scramble over
the wet rocks with her.  There are so many things to smell and taste at
the shore, it is so exciting!
 
Tonight, Ivory is going to hang her hammie where she can hear the waves.
 
I met a little guy named Snickers.  His Business is unforgettable.
Vinnie Da Rat, and the Other Vinnie!  We call them Vinnie Squared, they
don't mind.
 
Snickers wanted to go visit the Tube Maze, but the Vinnies Squared
convinced him that the real action is at the Dirt Mountain!  The dirt
mountain is as high as a thousand cages stacked on top of one another.
It is all good, soft black dirt that digs well and holds its' shape.
It smells wonderful, even better than potted plants, one of my personal
favorites.
 
I dug and scrambled with the guys for a long time, but then I had to
go back to work.  Snickers told me to thank his Daddy David for the
wonderful life they knew together in the World of the Living.  The
Vinnies Squared couldn't agree more!  It was so hard for Snickers for a
while there, the cancer made him so tired, but the love made all the
difference in the world to him.  Vinnie Da Rat says that David is the
best!
 
I met a little girl named Winifred.  Right now, she says she doesn't want
to be called Winn-Winn or Winnie, because those were the special names
her Mommy Vikki had for her.  I see that a lot here on this side of the
Bridge.
 
Anyway, Winifred was very concerned about getting her new hammie and
wings stowed away safely.  Her Brother in Fur, Elmo, showed her where he
hangs his hammie, in a sun-lit grassy field full of golden yellow hay
bales.  They smell so good, even if they can be kind of dusty to burrow
in.
 
Elmo says he doesn't care what I call him, as long as it isn't late for
Ferretone!  He's a laid back kind of guy.  Elmo wants to be remembered to
his Mommy Vikki, whom he hopes to see again some day, a long time from
now.  He wants her to know that he is thriving, and is in close contact
with her Business of Ferris, Beulah, Flower, Blizzard, Bump, Stimpy,
Twister, Stretch (who has a beautiful, lush coat now!), Gizmo, and
Frosty.  Some of them even hang their hammies in the same field of hay
bales that Winifred is trying out tonight.
 
Winifred says she misses her Mommy, too, and hopes that Vikki takes extra
special care of Kodiak, now that she has crossed the Bridge.  She says
that someday, hopefully a long time from now, she will be there when
Kodiak crosses over, and she will be waiting with wings on!
 
Well, back to work.
Sandee
[Posted in FML issue 4347]