Friday, January 7, 2011

Fripples


Letting a pet go is perhaps the hardest part of having one. Today we had to do that. Our sweet 15 year old Fripples' heart gave out. We'd been giving him extra love and care since late fall. On New Years Eve we took him to the vet. This last week has been very difficult. When we decided to put him to sleep, our vet said he couldn't do it until Monday. That wasn't an option so we went to a vet we'd never been to. His compassion and diligence were what we needed.

I always felt Fripples was special - that's because he was! He was a gift. He found us 15 years ago in our forest home in the woods. During our time together he weathered lots of lifes' ups and downs with us.
A constant furry companion, a teddy bear who hugged us with his sweet white mitten paws, dazzled us with his watery green eyes and fluffed in the breeze on the deck sitting beside his red and pink geraniums. His sweet kittenality had everyone who came to visit us wanting to take him home! He would sense when my blood sugars were low by my breath during the night and stay with me until Jon gave me juice.
He was my best friend.

He had the same white fluffy color and coloring that a sweater my Mom gave me had. I felt he was somehow my Mom reincarnated.
I had my Mom 15 years and Fripples the same.
That just never seems long enough when you love them.


Go with God sweet bunnyman- you will always be loved.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Cousins: Sorry for your loss of Fripples - I can't believe he was 15, I never think of him that way.
Hugs to you all,
Ellen, Critter & Snickers

Anonymous said...

I will miss Fripples the next time I visit Purple Hill. You put it purrfectly when you referred to his "sweet kittenality." You guys are such good and caring pet owners that if I were to die and get reincarnated as a cat, I would most certainly find my way to Purple Hill (or perhaps Santa Fe by then!) and show up on your deck!

Sharon said...

I am sorry about your Fripples. The photos show his sweet personality. The loss of him is very hard, I know.

After my last little one had to be put to sleep it was five years before I had the heart to go looking for a new companion. Samba is 10 years old now. I want to have her with me forever and that won't be possible. It makes me cry just thinking about it.

Jaime Haney said...

OH I'm so sorry for your loss of Fripples. What a stunning companion he was. I always wonder why can't our animals live as long as we do? Someone once said in reply, they are little furry angels and they are here for as long as we need them and then go back to heaven.

John Bauman said...

Is there anything harder in this world? ...yes, I know there is.

But few things seem harder than losing a pet. We don't tell just everyone, but Dar and I have many times concluded that it can be harder to lose a pet friend than a human friend.

With our human friends the communication is more exact -- more complete. We can express our love on even terms with them. When they are gone, nothing need be left unsaid.

It rarely feels that way with a pet. We give them our best (and they, theirs) but we've still never been quite able to say, without the certainty of a translator, "do you understand? Do you know I love you?"

But we've concluded that they do and did understand. We've concluded that, just maybe the words we use with our human friends are the illusion. And it's the actions we do with both (animal and human) that are the real communication.

So, they know.

And we miss 'em. Terribly. But we don't have to additionally suffer the emptiness of wondering. They know.

My sympathies.