A VALENTINE FOR BUNNY LOVERS

Yesterday I heard the best story and wanted to share it with all of you.........A friend of mine, who is VERY pregnant had a flood in the basement of her home.  (who says we're having a drought?)  My friend, Lynn, kept her bunny, along with her dogs, in the basement when they were away from home.  Lynne's husband is in the military and away from home most days of the week but close enough to come home at odd days.  They have two young daughters, one from each other's past marriages and the girls immediately bonded when they came together........a nice family unit.  And like I said, a new little one coming along soon to join in the fun.  OK........back the the flooded basement.  After Lynn found the flood and that the bunny was in need of a little 'clean up', all seemed well.  The next morning Lynn's mother (Mom and Dad also are part of this close knit family life), told Lynn that she'd better check on the bunny "Whiskers" because he wasn't moving.  Lynn was devastated to find Whiskers had died.  The home was an older place and the basement was a mess (her words not mine) and who knows what had been down in the basement to float around in the flooded water.  Very likely something like rat poison.  That had Lynn worrying about the dogs, too, and whether they might have drunk some of the water.  Lynn called the vet and learned what signs to look for if the dogs were in any kind of trouble.......and thankfully that never became an issue.  But the bunny's passing was going to be hard news to break to the girls, also.  So they weren't told until later.  
While Lynn was crying her heart out about Whiskers, she called her husband and told him what had happened.  Lynn's husband, Roger, was really upset that Lynn was taking this so hard.  ( I expect the pregnancy hormones were alive and well).  So, Roger consoled her as best he could via long distance phone calls.  
The next day, Roger was home and when Lynn got home from work, he told her to check in their closet for his Valentines Day gift to her.......(Feb. 14th).......AND to NOT bring the girls with her.  Lynn naturally thought that it might be a slightly "naughty Valentines gift" so she went in alone.  She went to the closet looked around, and seeing a pet cage on the floor of the closet, leaned down to find a new bunny in the cage.......a cute little lop-eared female.  Seeing this new addition, Lynn promptly broke into a fresh wave to tears.  Roger is frantically asking if these are tears of good or bad???  "It's too soon!!!"  cried Lynn.........And of course, Roger, felt terrible.... telling her that he can bring back the new bunny until the passing of Whiskers had reached become a more manageable emotion.  Roger had looked all over the south coast area looking for a bunny to bring home to replace the missing hole in her heart......as well as the girls when they got the word about Whiskers.  Lynn realized what an exceptionally sweet thing that Roger had done and the effort he had put into this loving act.  She told him that she did intend to keep the new bunny and realized what this all meant in the larger picture.........
When the girls came home from school they told them to go in their closet and take a look at Daddy's Valentine's Day gift to them all.......From the other room, Lynn and Roger could hear the shrieks "ITS a BUNNY!!!".    They still hadn't been told about Whiskers and that was to be shared with them when the girls came back from playing a bit with their new discovery.  There were some wet eyes at once, and one of the girls asked if they could name the new bunny Whiskers, also.  Roger said he wanted to name the new bunny Valentine, since it was his gift to all of them on Valentines Day.  So, Valentine is now a happy addition to this beautiful loving and growing family.  
I think what really touched me was Roger's desire to fill in the feelings of loss that all "his girls" were or would be feeling.  The pain of loss rarely is as long lasting as say, a family member, but still a loss of a beloved pet still hurts acutely in it's initial stages.  This story just moved my heart.   

Today, I drove over to the Roseburg VA and scouted out the building where I'll be meeting the administrator of the VA Hospice program.  I've been thinking along these lines for a while and when our local newspaper listed that they were in need of more volunteers.......well the timing was perfect for me.  It's been many years since I've been to the VA campus and the new housing they have built for some of the veterans is so nice!  Nice, neat, cheerful.....like comfy little condos......no barracks here, thankfully.  I'm sure I'll have more news about some of my experiences in my future ramblings....

The above photos are of a few spring flowers that Norm and I recently purchased.  We're definitely starting to look forward to spring and warmer weather.  I have a number of vines, shrubs and plants coming.  We have a much smaller garden area now, but there's enough room to make it "our own".  Put our own stamp on it.  All we have to do is wait out the continuing rains........at least they've started again and this is Oregon, after all!

Enjoy your winter days and dreams of spring........