Meems

..... Oh Mia ... affectionately called Meems by most of us ... Mia, our sweet guinea pig, properly called a Cavy. Mia passed away Wednesday morning between 3 am and 7 am.

..... We'd only had her about nine months. Officially, I suppose, she was Trinity's pet. However, I was the driving force behind getting her and I loved her and shared in her care.

..... We knew something was wrong Tuesday afternoon. She didn't look right and was sluggish and when we realized she wasn't really eating, that sealed it. We got her in at the vet at the last minute that afternoon. I had a hard time falling asleep; kept going in to check on her.

..... Before Mark left for work I asked him to go check on her. When he came back and said she didn't make it, I bawled. He stayed home from work. I broke the news to Trinity. She cried and cried and I cried right along with her.

..... Will was concerned that perhaps we were wrong. Part of his processing it was to actually look and touch her. He wanted to make her move.

..... We let Trinity take the lead on how she wanted to deal with things. A shoebox with a pink lid was appropriate she thought. Her daddy dug a nice hole in the back yard. The kids helped fill it back in.

..... All day we were subject to tearing up. We decided we would wait a couple of weeks before entertaining the possibility of a new small pet. I mean, Mia was so cool! For real ... a cool rodent. She had personality. She oinked ... when she heard one of us in the kitchen. She came to the door of her cage when we opened it and stood up if she wanted to be held. She also, and most adorably so, would hold her chin up high in the air and let you scratch and rub under her chin. (See picture at left.) Her nostrils were two different colors; one dark, one pink. And the whiskers on each side were corresponding colors; light and dark. She was no ordinary rodent.

..... Thursday the kids and I were so sad. Her cage was still there with her tiny carrot and spinach left. It stood empty and frankly, it was hard to bare. So, we went to look at rats. Yes, rats. My thinking was that if Trinity wanted one that might just work. I would in no way get attached, so I wouldn't have to worry about letting go of another pet. Well, as it turns out, doggone rats have a much shorter life expectancy that guinea pigs. Argh!

..... Petsmart let Trinity hold a rat. She just didn't seem comfortable. Then we got the lifespan data. That idea was a dud. We decided to go to the pet store we'd gotten Mia at. We thought surely they would have a baby we could hold and love on ... ya know, tangible therapy of sorts.

..... They had babies. One 8 week old little angel with crazy hair. Another 5 week old little angel who was white with pink eyes. Oh, we loved on them and loved on them and it was so good for us. So, we left.

..... Then, we pulled over and called Daddy. Most of this information was exchanged. Yes, we found one. Is is too soon, is it okay? By the way, we didn't just find one. We found two. We can't choose between them. And, oh yeah, one is a girl and one is a boy.

..... By the time the call was over we could go back and get one. And Daddy was apparently in shock. (Two? They want two? And a pair no less?) So anyway, a crazy haired little fellow came home with us that afternoon. He is an Abyssinian piggie. His name is Jasper. He is so soft and pretty mellow. He is primarily Trinity's pet.

..... After much conversation and having a night to sleep on it, Mark decided if we really wanted a second one, well, we could indeed have her!!! I was floored. So, we went on Friday and picked up Joy. She was destined to be Alice (Alice and Jasper from Twilight) but it just didn't fit her. Joy worked. She is a Teddy Bear piggie with funny hair. She is very gentle but still pretty scared of us. She's so tiny and just as precious as can be. An added twist with Joy is that she is primarily William's pet. Hmmm .... After we got her home and started looking at her, we realized she had one dark ear and one pink ear. And even more cool, one dark nostril and one pink nostril ... just like our Mia. At left is a picture of Bella checking out Joy. She licks them ... and wags her tail. I think she is hoping we'll put one down so she can chase them.

..... And what do you do with two guinea pigs?? Well, let's just say that come July or August, our family may grow just little. That's right. We are actually planning on having wittle cavies (piglets) at our house!

..... Here's the pair of new members of our family. They are so cool and we're enjoying them already. They really have eased the pain of losing Mia. She was special. They won't replace her. But they sure have made their own places in our hearts!