Dear Ferret Folks--
 
I've gotten a lot of mail about my post outlining some of the more
questionable moments in the lives and times of the Vinnies Da Rats.
I let the facts speak for themselves in that post.
 
I do have something to say on a purely personal level, though.  It's
not *my* job to drive David Owings off of this list, it's not my list.
It belongs to all of us.  What I would prefer, is to feel comfortable
*believing* what David posts to it.  Many people have followed his posts,
and believed them, believed in him.  He has told of lost ferrets, and
we have worried with him.  Prayed.  He has told us about deaths, tragic
deaths, and we have grieved with him, cried.  A community shares its
grief, so that no one individual has to bear the burden alone.
 
A community is also about trust.  Many of us here on the FML have never
met, will never meet, we do not truly know the facts of one another's
lives, but we take it on faith that what is reported here is true.  So
we worry, we pray, we grieve, so that none of us need ever be alone with
the awful burden of the loss or illness of a beloved companion.
 
But trust can be abused, and so can the spirit of community.
 
I do not know David Owings, but I believe that anything he chooses to
post here has a valuable place here, as long as he makes a renewed
commitment to honoring that spirit of trust, and community.  That's
just my opinion.  I hope that he will.  I hope that he, and we, will
put all of this behind us, and move forward from here.
 
Long live Vinnie Da Rat
Alexandra in MA
[Posted in FML issue 5118]