Hello to you all: My name is Sassy. Some of you may know me, have met me; others of you have seen my picture on my Mommy's shelter website. Or maybe you just know me from my Mommy talking about me. In any case, I'll introduce myself briefly before I ask of you what I must. I have a brother, Ricky. He and I were in a home that wasn't so good until we were three. We wound up in a ferret shelter for a while, and that wasn't so bad. I got to stay with my brother so that was okay. But we needed a home! Then, one day, we were taken to this place they called Ferret Expo, and we were sitting in this cage with all these people looking at us and holding us. This woman came to our cage and asked to see us. She sat down on the floor of Expo for an hour with me and Ricky, playing with us and seeing how we acted. We thought she was gonna stuff us back in the cage like all the others that held us, but then she gave some money to the shelter lady and she took us home with her. That woman is Mommy, and this was four years ago. The place she took us was pretty neat. Lots of toys and we got a big cage and raisins and stuff. The best thing of all was hammocks. She gave us awesome ones and me and Ricky have spent the last four years cuddling up together in them; Mommy calls it "spooning" what we do, holding each other. Anyway, I guess I'm rambling. I think maybe we might have given Mommy some big heartaches over the past four years. Soon after she took us home Ricky ate a rubber tug toy and Mommy had to give him surgery to take the toy out (which the vet happily gave back to her in a bag--yuk!) Then, three years ago Ricky got sick again and started to walk in circles and have strokes and seizures. Vet said he had days to live. Mommy was really sad! But she did all kinds of stuff for him and he's still alive, he's now what Mommy says is retarded but I know he's really happy living in oblivion. He's really attached to me, I think that's sweet but he needs to be more independent. Mommy called him her "miracle boy" and she said that I was the one that would live to be 11 years old cuz I've never been sick other than a spider bite. Now for what I have to ask you all. You see, I'm writing to you from this place called the Rainbow Bridge. I went to the vet today to have something called exploratory surgery cuz I've been sick a little the past couple of months. I got skinny and Mommy thought before it got too bad we should find out what was wrong cuz blood tests revealed nothing. But as it turns out there was a lot really wrong with me and as much as I tried to survive the surgery, I wasn't strong enough. The Rainbow Bridge just sounded like a neat place and it was easier to go there than fight to wake up from surgery. But I guess I didn't think this decision through well enough before I decided to go cuz Mommy is pretty sad and now I'm thinking that maybe Ricky will be sad too. But all I know is that I'm happy here and I don't want Mommy to think that I didn't love her enough to stay; I just didn't want to feel yucky any more. I didn't suffer, I was a little tired the past few months and then at the vet they made me sleep. When I woke up I was here and it is a cool place. Please think of me and smile. Think of my Mommy and send her good thoughts so she doesn't get too sad. And probably most of all please think of my brother and pray for him that he can deal with losing me without getting sick again. He's been so healthy lately and I just want HIM to be the one that lives to be 11. I'll say hello to all of your ferrets that have come here before me, and I'll be the first to greet any that come after me. Bless you all and take care. Kymberlie Becker Barone Director, Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association "Forget Puppy Love...There's nothing Greater than Ferret Love!" TM http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/ferretlady [Posted in FML issue 2157]