{"id":297,"date":"2011-05-05T11:44:15","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T15:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/myhappyplace\/?p=297"},"modified":"2011-05-05T11:44:15","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T15:44:15","slug":"dancing-with-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/myhappyplace\/2011\/05\/dancing-with-death.html","title":{"rendered":"Dancing with Death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Emerald the Ferret in his Christmas-gift tunnel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our sweet ferret, Emerald, is dancing with death and I’m sure the music will stop within the hour.<\/p>\n

I know that allowing so many animals in to our family also means we have to suffer as they suffer: a choice I’ve made. I ran in to a friend the other day who said, “It’s been a year since we lost our dear Basset Hound and we’re still not ready for another”. I understand this sentiment, and, when one of our pets is at the end, I wonder why I don’t follow that same\u00a0 path. It’s painful to watch my little girl cry as she tells yet another pet goodbye.<\/p>\n

Not only do we fill the chicken coop with those delicate pets we call chickens…and not only do we fill yards with those even more<\/em> delicate pets called rabbits, we welcome geriatric pets to our farm! For three years our farm was the “pasture” in the cliche “Out to Pasture” for Esther, the 30-year-old pony. And Emerald was also elderly when he came to our farm two years ago.<\/p>\n

Emerald was Anya’s dream. She saw a ferret on a movie and couldn’t stop thinking how much fun it would be to own a “weasel”. Now, Joe and I had ferrets when we were newly married…so we knew the truth of the matter and tried to explain things to her ;). No, it didn’t work. She just kept on dreaming. And when Anya dreams, God listens!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I didn’t want to go to a pet store and pick out a ferret, I wanted to share our home with a ferret who really needed some love. After hours on-line looking for the “right fit”, I had just about given up. My friends at The General Store<\/a> knew of my quest. One day I was shopping for feed, and The General Store phone rang. My friend giggled as she hung up the phone, “That was a lady needing a home for an elderly ferret”.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My GPS lead me to a run down house in a worse neighborhood. I almost cried when I saw the pitiful Ferret…with a bald tail…trapped in a little cage. The woman said, “It eats cat food” as she pushed the cage toward me. When I asked if it was a boy or girl, she said, “Oh, I don’t know…I don’t touch it” and actually shuttered! I handed her two $20’s, grabbed up the cage and headed to the car, never looking back.<\/p>\n

I’m not going to lie…Emerald has been a trial at times. He *did* smell bad. He was not cute when he lost *all* his fur. He preferred the corners of the house to his litter box. But we loved him just the same.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
So much love right there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Good bye, Sweet Boy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our sweet ferret, Emerald, is dancing with death and I’m sure the music will stop within the hour. I know that allowing so many animals in to our family also means we have to suffer as they suffer: a choice I’ve made. 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