After a long battle with insulinoma and other cancers, Ralphie has joined his dearest friends Norman and Cinderella at the Rainbow Bridge. I adopted Ralph in the autumn of 1994, before any of the other ferrets I have now. He came from the FACT shelter in Connecticut, where he learned to fly. I was told that soon after Ralphie made one of his spectacular leaps between the bannister posts and over the stairs, the shelter moms blocked off the landing so other ferrets wouldn't do the same. I subscribed to the FML shortly before I adopted Ralph, and this was one of my first FML posts: "Ralph has a fascination with the dog toys. The other day I saw him trying to push the latex Snoopy underneath the bottom kitchen drawer. That didn't work, so he crawled under the drawer and, with just his head sticking out, tried to pull Snoopy in. Well, Snoopy was just too big. However, the next day I found Snoopy in the cabinet with the pots and pans... he 's still trying to figure out a good place for the orange rubber fire hydrant, which is almost as big as he is." Any toys for the dog quickly became Ralph's treasures. He enjoyed surfing with a squeaky dog toy which was in the shape of a folded up newspaper. He would hold it under his body and "surf" back and forth behind the couch. Ralph also loved the latex carrot dog toys. He and Prince Charming engaged in what I called the "carrot wars." Each of them thought the carrot toy belonged in a different spot. Ralph would drag it under the kitchen drawer, and then Prince Charming would move it back to the cabinet. This was further complicated by Clover, who occupied the kitchen when the other ferrets were in a different room. She would move the carrot somewhere else, and when Ralph and Prince Chaming returned the next day, it would start all over. Besides being funny and smart, Ralph was the most gentle, loving being. He loved people and other ferrets, and was always a wonderful ferret ambassador. When I think of Ralph, I will mostly remember his pure, loving spirit. Besides his grieving mom, Ralph leaves behind the rest of his FLO unit-- Harry, Prince Charming, Merlin, Roxanne, Petunia, Epcot and Clover, as well as Lily the dog and 6 cats. Although his beautiful sable body now lies in the garden, Ralph's joyful spirit is playfully surfing along the Rainbow Bridge with his many friends. Farewell, good and loving friend, you will never be forgotten. Though lovers be lost, Love shall not, And death shall have no dominion. --Dylan Thomas [Posted in FML issue 2853]