[Gpdd] MISC: Snoopy, my precious son

[corrine sakumoto]

A little over five years ago, we were in a pet store and I saw this adorable long haired black and white with a splash of light brown guinea pig!  We normally 'think about it' and come back but Michael said, I know you, you'll decide to get him, and then he won't be here and you'll be all depressed, so we'll get him now!  He was my anniversary present that year.

He is just the sweetest, most adorable little guy ever!  He always took a backseat to others because he'd always be 'fine.'  Because of his long hair, he'd need a bath here and there or hair trimming, but nothing major ever happened to him.  He ALWAYS stood up to greet us and say HI! but he always ran away whenever we went to pet him.  It was my 'joke' to 'chase' him with my hand and say, well, I have to pet you now!!

I couldn't think of a name for him, something like 'black paw' since he had one black paw.  My niece said that one mask over his eye looked like someone took a bite out of a cookie!  With that 'mask' he did sort of look like a 'bandit' but that didn't fit either.  But it just hit me one day that his name was Snoopy.  I'm not one to name piggies after characters but it really seemed to fit him somehow.

We usually pronounced it 'Shnoopy' or 'Shnoops'.  Lately, I'd ask, how's my Shnoopy doo??

He shared the room, they have their own pens, with Sparkles.  Sparkles has been having ongoing health problems off and on so yes, Snoopy would try to get attention, and yes, I feel IMMENSE GUILT at this, but he'd hardly get any.  One day he wasn't himself and I couldn't figure it out until I wondered if he was depressed.  So I tried to shower him with attention.  Because Sparkles has soft poo, I'd change her bedding twice a day.  So I began to do that for Snoopy too.  He'd see me every day changing Sparkles' bedding twice so now I changed his too.  I figured he's older so being on a wet bedding can't feel too good!  He seemed happier after that.

Sparkles and Snoopy loved to stand when it was mealtime, they're on a shelf, one above the other, so Michael would hold the bag of salad that I'd make for them, up to them so that they could pick their first bit.  It never failed.  Snoopy was always directly below Sparkles and Sparkles would grab a lettuce, chew on it a little, then let it go, bonk! right onto Snoopy's head!  I carefully watched her one time and I said to her, I see what you're doing! for it indeed looked like she did it on purpose!

He wasn't the most cuddliest of piggies, usually squirming but I loved it when he'd 'nose' me or look deep into my eyes, and I loved it most when I showered him with hugs and kisses.  He is extremely good natured, rarely getting mad at anything.  The only time he'd clack his teeth was when I would have to comb the knots out of his hair.  He sure hated that!

He started to have impaction recently.  Since our K. C. had impaction when he got older, this wasn't such a big deal for us.  But Snoopy seemed to manage to get the little impaction out by himself as we'd find them around his pen.

As dumb as it sounds, we figured he'd be around forever.  That this year we'd be celebrating six, then next year, seven, and so on.  He never acted 'old' he was always so lively and active.

We know that even though they never really 'met' that Sparkles misses Snoopy because what she does now is take her first piece of lettuce from the salad bag and she runs into her 'cave' with it to eat it.  She has never done that before.

So my dear little boy, Shnoops, today is my birthday.  Last Sunday was mother's day.  May 5th was Boy's Day in Hawaii.  Things just weren't the same without you.  I still reach into your pen to clean your bowl or check your water and when I see you're not there, my heart breaks.  I miss you sooo much!  I can't believe you're not here.  You haven't been here for two and a half months so I apologize for the lateness of this posting, but every time I sat down to do it, I just started to cry uncontrollably because I just felt that if I did this, it would mean that you're 'really' gone and I couldn't live with that.  My heart has a big hole that only you can fill.

I love you Snoopy.  I always will.  You'll always be with me in my heart.

Love, your mommy corrine