[Gpdd] MISC: Mini, our beloved little girl

[corrine sakumoto]

Mini came into our lives shortly after we lost Lambo.  We were at a pet store and my jaw dropped because I saw a piggie that looked almost exactly like our first piggie, Oreo.  She was black and white, with a splash of brown on her nose, and she also had the 'M' on her side like Oreo did.  I had just lost Lambo but thought this was too much of a coincidence to pass up.  Oreo had been Michael's special little girl, they had such a strong bond.  So too with Mini, they had a very strong bond.  I loved to cuddle her 'chubby cheeks!'  I estimated her age at around five months.  The pet store clerk was thrilled as she said, 'the big girl is going to her forever home!'

My parents had just lost their beloved shetland sheepdog to a brain tumor, he was fourteen years old, named Miki.  We named 'Mini' in his honor.

Mini would get upset with me lots of times.  It took Michael to say to me, she doesn't like it when you do that, or this is her favorite or she likes this.  One thing about Mini that always warmed our hearts is that she LOVED and I do mean LOOOOOVED to have her chin rubbed.  She'd slowly move her head more and more backwards, ahhhhhhh......, so we could rub it better.  I used to fear she would fall over backwards!  She was an 'only pig' for awhile so I'd always be cuddling her.  She would patiently put up with me.  Even though she was technically Michael's, I did dote on her too.

She always preferred Michael to hold her.  But once, when I was holding her, she looked at my face, so I knew she knew it was me and not Michael and then she snuggled into my arms and fell asleep.  I wanted to cry with such joy but didn't want to disturb her.

She would always eat all her fresh veggies the fastest.  Our constant joke was, did we feed her? because there was never any evidence that we did!  It was a shock and rather sad to us, when, nearly overnight, she actually got really picky on what she ate.  She was never like that before.  She was always pleasingly plump so to see her slowly lose weight was horrifying to us.  She was always still active and produced plenty of pellets so we figured if she had 'output' she must have 'input'.  She began to only want the freshest of veggies and wouldn't settle for anything less.  We had had an aging piggie that had also lost weight as he got older, so we figured that some piggies lose weight as they age.  She was a little over four years old when we lost her on Sunday, November 23rd to a stroke.

Mini was our oldest piggie and the one I always worried about the most.  A few months ago, I had found her flat out and I feared the worst.  But when Michael held her, he gently massaged her and somehow she was better after that.  For two days, we'd massage her when she seemed to need it, then she was as good as always.  We never figured out why it helped her, but it did.

It touched me deeply when Michael was crying over her.  He was always strong for me whenever we lost a piggie, but Mini and Michael shared a strong bond and he deeply feels the loss.

Mini, daddy and mommy miss you soo much!  We hope you were happy with us and enjoyed being our little girl because we wouldn't trade having you in our lives for anything.  We love you dearly and will always hold a special place in our hearts for you.

Love, your daddy Michael and mommy Corrine

(Sorry for the delay, Mini, but our computer died and we had to shop and get another one.)