A little over 10 years ago my wife and kids were in Kentucky visiting her parents. She called and told me that our son really wanted a pet rabbit. I was not a fan of the idea, but they came home with a pet rabbit anyway. This was the first of several pets that arrived at the house without my input. The kids and my wife spent a lot of time with her, letting her out to get exercise hopping around in my son’s room, feeding, her, petting her, etc. I took care of her only when I was the only person at home.We were reluctant housemates, but she was part of everyone else’s family.

One of the funniest memories with Zoey – the kids were home alone after school one day. I called to check on them. I heard my daughter trying to say it where I wouldn’t hear it “Should I tell him?” It turns out what she wasn’t sure about telling me is that Zoey had escaped from her room and was hopping around the house(we had a dog by this point and worried about them interacting). They were desperately trying to catch her, but she was too fast for them. They did eventually capture her and get her back to where she was supposed to be.

Lately, Zoey has not been well. She was old for a rabbit and it was obvious she was nearing the end of her life. The kids and my wife have spent a lot of time recently holding her, petting her and comforting her. This morning, my wife called me upstairs and said Zoey had not eaten last night, wouldn’t take water and wasn’t moving at all. She died a few minutes later as my wife held her. On a normal Monday we both would have been at work when it happened, but it worked out that I am working the evening shift today and my wife has a thing at a local college and was still at home. My son was home for dinner last night and was able to see her for a while. Our daughter spent a lot of time with her over Labor Day weekend.

I won’t claim to be as sad as the rest of the family, but I am sad nonetheless. Very sad for them and knowing how they feel about it. Not a great way to start the week.