Good bye, Swiffs

I never really thought I would get attached to a guinea pig. When Santa brought them last Christmas and one of them died, I felt bad for Isabella but I had not grown to love that hairy little thing yet. And as many of you know, I get sort of tired of the daily care my animals require. Food, water, poop removal, treats, play time, etc. It is time consuming as all hell. But even though Sultan and I just talked about how nice it would be when the guinea pigs and cats all die (strictly for convenience), to actually wish for an animal to die is pretty harsh.

Today as we were literally 5 minutes away from heading to the bus, I heard the phrase I HATE hearing, "Mom! Something's the matter with Swiffer!!" Oh shit. She had died and was pretty stiff already. She had gotten a chance to eat her last plate of veggies and fresh herbs, I even found some organic dill for those little critters to munch on. I think it was just her time. God needed some more guinea pig angels in the sky.

Sophie was such a brave little girl, she did not shed one single tear and got on the bus calmly. I later learned she did not want her face to be red, since this often happens when she cries, and she didn't want to talk about it with friends. She broke down later, once in the comfort of Daddy's car. Now I on the other hand, was an utter mess much of the day. I kept crying and crying, over this little long-haired guinea pig who was so cute and silly and obviously touched my life more than I knew. ( I hate that I am STILL crying as I write this. Damnit! I hate being so emotional!!) We buried her in our backyard, next to our fence. I wrapped Swiffer, who was named after the Swiffer sweeper because of her very long black coat which resembled a mop, in a piece of green fleece, a fabric she liked to cuddle with in her cage. Sophie drew a very touching picture of her with remarkable detail, even down to her single brown foot. She wrote "Best Guinea Pig Ever" and "My Favorite Pet--I will miss you!" and we wrapped this note up with her. I even bought a little grave marker stone that reads "Our Beloved Pet" and we placed some silk flowers by her. Sophie said some sweet words about her as Isabella held the flashlight on her mini grave. We all cried together and went inside.

So this is not a funny post. Sorry. Just wanted to share this moment. I know many of you think it's silly or over the top how this all happened. I will clean up the poop and feed them, I don't care, just please don't have any more of my little zoo die. I don't think my doctor can prescribe any more Xanax to handle more sadness, even if you think she was "just a guinea pig".