How Many Times Can One Say Goodbye

[Heather]

How many times can one loose another piece of their heart?
How many times can one say no more?
How many times can one look into dark eyes and watch life slip away?
How many tears can one cry, until there are no tears left to cry?
Go hug your little ones. Go hold them close for there is no tomorrow, only today, only this moment, only now.
Tonight, I light a candle, for a little soul who walks the path alone. Tonight, another star glows brightly in the dark sky. Tonight another furchild mourns the loss of another friend. Tonight, I hold my precious little ones close and know. Tonight, I remember a small sickly kit, left in a back room of a pet store to die. Failure to thrive, they said. Too young, I said. Full price they said. Sold said I. I fought for him then as I fought for him today. This fight I could not win against disease, poor breeding and the need for a profit. I lost this fight, today. For today I bury a friend, my little baby Nicodemus.

Not so baby anymore. For 6 years you played here, made friends here, enjoyed life here.


You welcomed every lost ferret that ever came here. Never did you treat anyone badly. You were everyone's friend and playmate. Always too busy to snuggle, always poking and getting into things. Maybe you already knew that life was too short to lay around, maybe you knew deep down inside that you borrowed time, that life was for living, a gift. I tell myself that it was 6 years that you wouldn't have had. That if I hadn't gone into that backroom so many years ago, it would have been 6 years that you would have not been. I guess, I still have tears to cry, more pieces of my heart to loose because there are still more little ones....more little Nico's.
Nicodemus thank you for sharing your life with me. Goodbye my little friend. Goodbye .

[opiesmom]

Oh Heather, I am so very sorry to hear you lost another one. I have tears in my eyes as I typing this. What you wrote was just beautiful. Like you said you gave him 6 loving years he wouldn't have had. And from what I have read about your family if I was a ferret I would want to live with you. I don't think you ever get over losing them. I still miss my Opie so much. Losing him has been very hard on me. I still tell him good morning and good evening every day. It was because of him I rescued three others who will live the rest of there lives being loved and spoiled. I hope it will be a long while before you lose anymore.
Christy

[sherrylynne]

Oh no! Not again so soon. I also am teary eyed writing this. It's so unfair. But he's flying free now, running with the others, hale and healthy again.

[Lynxie]

Poor little Nico. I'm so sorry Heather.

[Heather]

Thanks....guys. It's difficult but I know he's in a better place, with friends. He's no longer tired, no longer sick. Once more he chuckles and is greeted by his best friend and tormentor, Porthos.

I know that he now runs with his many lost friends that have said goodbye to him. He's lost so many...I've lost so many He said goodbye to Pandora, who really thought kits were a pain. Porthos who loved him and beat on him like a brother. Mayhem...who loved him for snuggles and for sucking on his ears. Zena who just loved to scream at him. Athos who thought he moved too slow and Aremis who thought he never sat still. Little Mischief because he was really a gentle soul and everyone else played too rough for Mischief. They will be greeting him at the bridge. Now there is only poor Max, who is left behind. Who remembers all these little lost ones. Max, who has said goodbye to all these and many more. Max, who today laid beside his best friend one last time and cleaned his ears and said goodbye.
ciao

[rarnold18]

I'm so sorry that Nicodemus has passed, I will remember him in my prayers tonight.

[novemberkris]

Heather, it has been a hard couple of months for you. I'm teary reading this. I find the work you do of taking in abandoned furry souls amazing. I know somewhere out there I have heard a saying that humans are judged in death by the animals they have been responsible for in life. If that is true, you certainly have built up a wonderful record.

[mjohn143]

I am really sorry about what you are going through! It isn't fair that for all the good you are doing, you must also eventually go through this kind of heart break. Nicodemus was very lucky to have been able to live with you all those years, and I'm sure all the fuzzies that passed before him are really happy to be able to play with him again; all with a refueled energy and healthy bodies!

[Heather]

Thanks
It has been difficult but unfortunately this is how it happens. They seem to get sick in clumps and then pass the same way Nico's lupron will now go to Mad Max (Nico's best friend) as he's just showing signs of adrenal (sexual aggression) and hopefully this will give Max a bit more time. I figure the next little while will probably be rather rough as 6 of my present furkids are over 5 yrs old, Max being the oldest at 9 or 10.
ciao