[Gpdd] misc: Classroom Pet

[Mary Fran McCluskey]

Hi all--
The talk of classroom pets reminded me of a fine GP whose story deserves to be told.
When my daughter was in first grade (she's 23 now) Miss Hedgy was donated to Mrs. Bliss's classroom at Sun Valley School on Happy Lane in San Rafael, CA. She was so named for the jerky, funny piggie movements that we all know so well. Hedgy made slaves of hundreds of students, teachers, and parents over her lifetime, and our family was fortunate to be able to bring her home on holidays, my first experience with guinea pigs.
As smart as any of her slaves, or more so, Miss Hedgy took being a first-grade pig in stride. Being passed around to endless sticky, inept hands was accepted and embraced by her as part of life. When the little ones outside her cage became an annoyance, she would pick her blanket up by her teeth and fling it over herself to obtain some well-deserved privacy.
My funniest story about this steady furball -- once I decided to spruce up her cage by vacuuming it with the vacuum hose while she was still inside. How did Hedgy react? Her natural curiosity and desire for lifelong learning (she was a school pig, after all) compelled her to come right up to that hose to sniff and observe. Noise, after all, she was used to!
When my son, now 20, was in fifth grade, Miss Hedgy passed away. Tears fell like rain as the school principle visited each and every classroom to bring the sad news.
She was a pet to all.
Remembering Miss Hedgy.
--Mary Fran