Last summer, a friend of mine mentioned that she was looking for a temporary home for her kids' hamster. They needed someone to keep her for four months. Emily begged to be allowed to "hamstersit" for Ginger, so why not? Just one more animal in our menagerie.
And we loved having Ginger. She was very, very friendly and loved to snuggle and play. She never bit us, she never had a potty accident no matter how long we kept her out of her cage, and she loved to cuddle up around our necks. I even had her trained to wake up and come to the top of her cage when I called her name. If I didn't immediately get her out, she would stand up on her hind legs and bat at the door until I opened it and picked her up.
It was a very sad day when we had to give her back to her family a month ago. For such a little pet, she sure made an impact on us. She was so snuggly and soft that we nicknamed her "Fluffy" and we've defintely missed her since she's been gone.
And then two days ago, we found out that our sweet little Fluffy didn't wake up from her afternoon nap. Emily and I shed a few tears - more than a few, if I'm honest - and I think we were both surprised at how sad we were.
And then I whispered very, very softly and a bit shamefully, "I'm so glad it didn't happen on our watch."
