I had a special experience tonight with Heather.
First, a little background:
SCOTT:
When Heather and I met my view on animals was that they are a drain on your wallet as pets and useful for sport. Heather often wondered if I would ever allow a pet into our family.
Christmas of 2009 I surprised her with a Hamster. We named her Belle. I wanted Heather to know that I could love and own animals if it really was important to her.
HEATHER:
Heather has always had a love for animals.
She helped raise a goat, Tugs. The bell that hung around Tug's neck now hangs on a lattice archway in their yard. Each time Heather passes underneath it she reaches up and rings the bell in remembrance of Tugs.
She helped raise Chewy the alpaca. Chewy has special significance to our relationship. In the infancy of our relationship I was at Heather’s on a weekend when her Father decided that the alpaca needed to be sheered. I was there so I helped with the dangerous process. We held, tackled, accidentally choked, and eventually sheered Chewy. I like to think, and hope it’s true, that Kevin (her dad) decided that I was the real deal that day. It was through Chewy that he realized that I had some work ethic and was maybe worthy of his daughter.
Once Kevin approved enough I joined the family – one of the members of the family was Zeus, their dog. He was a cute pup – that looked a lot like a border collie. He had an immune deficiency for most of his life, but lived long. One day he ran away and never returned. It was a sad day for everyone.
Her claim to fame is her rabbits. She used to enter them into the Davis County Fair and she won Best of Breed with her rabbit Scamper. Her favorite Miss Dotty lived for 11 years. Other notable rabbits included: Bopsy (first), Velvet, Hershey, Willow, and Lightning. The average life expectancy of a rabbit is 6-8 years. Heather is a great owner.
One of the harsh realities of owning pets it knowing that someday they will move on and not be with us. Out of a family of 6, a general curse for Heather has been - she is the one to discover the deceased animal. NOT something she enjoyed.
After that her dad would take the pet and bury it without her knowing the details and the plot.
Present Day:
This weekend – while we were out of town our first pet, Belle, passed away.
When we arrived home at 1 am from Paragonah - Heather announced her arrival with the typical "Hey Belly! " she promptly went and changed out Belle's water and changed her food. That night Heather didn't hear the squeak of the hamster wheel or the rustling of Belle in her food bowl.
In the morning before leaving, Heather (suspecting the worst) made a trail of sunflower seeds to lure Belle out of her covered house.
That afternoon Heather sent me a text telling me of her suspicion and asked me to check on Belle.
I checked right away, so Heather wouldn't have to be the one to again discover the loss, and her suspicions were right. So I ignored Heather for as long as I could (she thought I was sleeping all afternoon because I had plowed snow through the night). Finally on her way home she asked me if I had checked. I had to tell her the news.
This brought a new duty to my role as a husband. I was in charge of burying Belle.
We found a small box and placed her pink bowl in it (she loved to curl up in her bowl). Inside the bowl we placed sunflower seeds (her favorite- taking after me). And placed her deep in the flower bed in the front of our first home.
Last Photo of Belle, taken two weeks ago
Heathers love of animals has softened my heart. It felt monumental for me to be the one that was able to take care of the pet that she cared so much for.
In life Heather has had a way of softening my heart. She has changed me - and made me better. This is a small example of how she does that.
*Sorry for the length. It should make up for our month of bloglessness. And this is our Journal in a way.
