[Gpdd] Rainbow Bridge: Wilson "has left the building." Rest in Peace my precious little one.

[Algernon07 at aol.com]

Dear Piggies and People,

     The Jolly Rodents and I are in mourning. If I'm redundant here please 
excuse me. Wilson, as most of you well know after my post the other night 
requesting a Rainbow Bridge beside his name on the list of the Poo Trail 
participants, well... Wilson is gone and while he is happily frolicking with old and new 
friends at the Bridge, we, left here, are grieving terribly.

     Wilson was unique as are all of our beloved piggies. He was an 
adventurer, an explorer, always curious and wanting to see what was beyond. But he was 
also sometimes a bit timid and cautious (although he would hate for me to tell 
on him). Interesting though, he also had a tendency to sometimes be foolishly 
reckless. So, I guess like any interesting being, he had his inconsistencies. 
Rod mentioned his "wicked good stories" from some of his adventures. Yep, 
that, too, was part of what made   Wilson special.
         
     He was also a jumper! Set him temporarily in a bin 18 inches high and 
pop! He'd leap right up on to my lap -- sometimes when I wasn't expecting it. 
Quite unsettling the first time. I thought I was being attacked by a frog.

     And talk about running laps. Wow. He was FAST.

     He would carefully arrange his furnishings in his cage (he had the 
luxury of a fairly large cage I'm happy to say) and then he'd begin his run, doing 
figure eight's around his cuddle cup, in the door of his beloved little 
"house" and out the window, back around the cuddle cup at speeds that amazed all of 
us and back through the house again and again. He did this up until perhaps 10 
days before his "departure."

     There is so much more to say about Wilson. Somehow I think he was a 
piggy that wanted to fly. In a "virtual" event I can easily see him taking to the 
trapeze. It was part of his leap and jump nature. And we all know how he loved 
that RV of his, the "Rodent Vehicle" that could go cross country picking up 
piggies from everywhere within a few hours. Fuzzy (his "Kung Fu Fuzzy") was 
always his first stop.

     We all have regrets when we lose one of our little guys. I wish Wilson 
had had one more day or evening of being able to wander the whole living room 
with the other Jolly Rodents while still healthy enough to enjoy it. It's been 
a long time since they'e done that, and he loved it. I won't list my "I wish I 
hads" but I do wish I'd had him put to sleep on Monday instead of Tues. 
(8/1/06) Although he was still trying to fight, I should have seen how little of 
him he had left to fight with. I didn't weigh him those last 3 or 4 days. I 
could tell that he was suddenly dropping weight steadily after holding steady for 
several months. How quickly the tide can turn and carry them off.

     He's buried now beside his buddy and former cage mate Ebeneezer beside 
the lilac bush next to the front porch, and Ebe's Saint Francis statue now 
looks over both of them.

     Still, we had a lot of close time, with me caring for him, syringing 
food, critical care (Thanks, Tweek!) water...all those things. During that time 
we seemed to fuse together and function as one. He was so grateful for the 
water through the syringe -- he became too weak his last three or four to even try 
to drink from his sipper bottle. Even when I would hold it for him. So we 
switched to syringing.

     All in all though, I think I did my best by him and as for what I didn't 
do, maybe I'll learn from this. I have learned so much about love and caring 
from sharing my life with the "Jolly Rodents," and I've also learned from many 
of our dear friends here. We are a community.

     We discussed "community" pigs here a while back, and I think Wilson was 
one of those that belonged to all of us.

     I will miss you terribly my little one.

In deepest sadness,
Alge and the not so Jolly Rodents.