It was a little over two weeks ago that I posted to wish my Lily a happy 8th birthday. Now it is with a heavy heart that I am posting to wish her a peaceful journey to the bridge. Lily was my second fert; I got her my Senior year of college at a small-town Iowa pet store as a playmate for my first fert, Fossa. She was the tiniest little albino girl you ever did see... the pet store owner told me she was the runt of a litter... sometimes I suspect she was a Ruby Fur Farms reject. She was none too nice either and was a real biter for several years after. Eventually, though, she calmed down quite a bit and -- though she was mostly a loner and did not seem to care for people or other ferrets -- was a fabulous kisser. I can remember one time when my friend (and fellow carpet shark "chum"), Stacy, and I were sitting in my apartment, watching TV or something... Lily had a favorite chair, which had a gap of only about 1 inch under it, but it was just enough for Lily -- and only Lily -- to sneak under a curl up for a nap. Anyway, Stacy was sitting in Lily's favorite chair, I on the couch. The other ferts were out bouncing around when we heard scratching coming from under Lily's chair. Stacy began to poke her fingers under the front of the chair and I tried to warn her that that might not be a great idea... Lily latched on to Stacy's finger and would not let go. Unfortunately, Stacy had leaned forward and reached down in between her legs. It was rather like a panicked game of Twister: Stacy trying to maneuver herself out of the chair while not increasing the damage to her finger... me trying to lift the front of the chair (with Stacy still half-sitting in it) to remove Lily and release the death-grip. Now that I look back on it I can laugh; she definitely got the better of us. A little over two years ago, Lily's oldest friend, Fossa, passed to the bridge and I could tell that Lily's health began to decline a little. Over the course of the next year, she gradually went blind in both eyes. Last February, her favorite napping partner, Socrates, succumbed to a very aggressive combination of cancers. Again, her health began a steady decline. Recently, she had just not had a lot of energy and spent almost all of her time sleeping. On Thursday evening, I returned home from work at 9PM, turned on the lights in the ferret room, changed their water, and refreshed their food supply before settling down to one of my favorite TV shows. All the ferts -- Lily included -- woke up and began bouncing around their room. I went in and spent about an hour playing with them (except for Lily -- she never "played," only gave kisses). At about 1:30AM, I was getting ready to go to sleep and peeked in on the ferret room. Lily was lying next to the door breathing raggedly and half-asleep. I picked her up and took her to the couch with me. We lay there together until about 2:20 AM, when her breathing slowed down and -- eventually -- stopped. When I could pull myself together enough, I took Lily into the ferret room so that everyone could say their good-byes. Oscar wouldn't even look at her. Witzy sniffed her and then begged to be picked up. Tripod Bob -- who had been a playmate/mortal enemy for 6-1/2 years -- went over, sniffed her and lay down beside her. Cody, my little baby, nudged her several times and then began to walk away, turned around, nudged her again, walked away, and just looked back, waiting for her to follow. Sandee, please greet Lily. She will have her best friends Fossa and Socrates waiting there for her; I'm sure that they will want to hear the news from home and know all about the 3 new kids. She may also run into her friends Toby, Milo, and Homer. Tell Lily that I love and miss her very much and hope that she feels better now. -- Andy, Cody, Oscar, Witzy, and Tripod Bob [Posted in FML issue 3347]