Remember the movie Pet Cemetery? A movie adapted from a Stephen King novel. Did I see the movie? Yes, but very recently on cable TV. The movie reminded me of all the pets my children had such as, hamster, parakeet, rabbit, cat and dog. Yet, some of these pets never lived to a ripe old age, at least as old as a pet can get. So my home became known as Pet Cemetery.
Now, please don’t think that my children harmed any of these creatures. No, quit the opposite. As a matter of fact the kids always made sure the pets were being taken care of.
O.K., let me tell you exactly what happened to some of our pets, and why my home became known as Pet Cemetery.
Our first pet for the kids was a parakeet.
What a beautiful parakeet he was and this bird was one of the smart ones.
Baby was his name. Baby would open his cage and fly around the house and when he tired go back home. I would call him and Baby would just go right back into his little bird cage. Then one day, and this was totally my fault, I accidentally let our cat get his cat paws on Baby. It was horrible when I found Rocky, that was the cat’s name, cupping his paws around Baby. Now I had to tell the kids that Rocky killed Baby. But I did not have the heart, I did not want them to blame the cat for doing what was instinctual, so I told the children that the bird just flew away.
Then came the hamster. This little pet hamster was called, Hammy, he was more my son’s pet. Another smart little guy. Hammy always managed to get out of his tank, he would use his little wheel and climb right out. We were always looking for Hammy. My son kept him in his room, took such care of him, till one day he decided that Hammy needs to get some fresh air and sun, so he put Hammy outside on our deck with his little hamster tank. The problem here is our deck gets the full afternoon sun. Hammy expired due to overexposure, poor Hammy, he got more than a sunburn.
One Easter we bought the kids a rabbit, and once again it was my son who kept Mr. Rabbit, in a box, right by his bed. Until one day the rabbit found himself in the hands of a two year old, my daughter. SQUEEZE! Yes, she squeezed him with love. Bye, bye, Mr. Rabbit.
So having my home named Pet Cemetery was not a wild call. It just seemed that every pet the children got never managed to survive. Oh, in case you are wondering about Rocky, the cat. Well, Rocky lived to be 19 years old and as the Vet made mention, for an outdoor cat Rocky lived to be pretty old. I guess Rocky helped break the curse, if there was one.
Did we ever regret giving these pets to our children? No. See Baby, Hammy and Mr. Rabbit taught my children something about life. Something that we learn as we grow older. They learned that life is fragile. They learned to appreciate the moments you have with your pets, and most of all the people in your life.
My children also learned that Pet Cemetery turns into Pet Heaven… Baby, Hammy and Mr. Rabbit are right now having the time of their animal lives, singing, spinning and hopping with all the other pets who have made children happy.
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