I was going to post a lot of pictures about the weekend we spent in Kansas City, but that is going to have to wait. Instead, I need to talk about Oolong.
Oolong, the rabbit this blog is named after, died yesterday. He was the most magical, sweetest, most charismatic little rabbit I have ever met. Like I mentioned in previous posts, he was named after a rabbit from Japan who had a large internet presence, who my daughter liked when she was little. Oolong the first captured our hearts with his talent of balancing things on his head, and when we read he had died, we were very sad. Oolong (Actually, his full name was Oolong Deux) came into our lives only days later.
Shawn and I walked into a pet store, don't remember why. But there was a little pen on the floor, containing rabbit kits. I walked... well, to another part of the store, but Shawn went over to the pen, and bent over. Oolong was there, teeny little guy. He immediately sat up on his haunches and looked up at Shawn. I knew, watching this exchange, that we were leaving with a rabbit. Shawn picked him up and didn't put him back down. He could have fit in a shirt pocket.
This was in Wichita, Kansas. Oolong came home to our house at the time, and took up residence in the corner of Megan's room. We lived there with him for almost two years. We had a cat at the time, aptly named Cat, and he and Oolong sometimes didn't see eye to eye - mainly during Oolong's "teenage" phase. Poor Cat was the target of some of Oolong's wild behavior. Cat passed away (after 21 years of life - Cat will be a future post) and Oolong was an only pet.
Then we moved to Colorado. Oolong rode in the car with us, in the back seat with Megan and Shawn. He didn't like riding in the car, but he did okay, drinking water and looking out the window. We moved into our house here in Colorado Springs, and Oolong set up house in our finished basement. It was a perfect place for him, the sun streamed in through the high windows, and he would follow it across the floor every morning.
One night, in the middle of the night, I awoke to hear a strange sound, kind of a "fwap...fwap...". Confused, I listened. It was coming from right next to the bed. I looked over the edge of the bed, and it was Oolong. He had come all the way up the three sets of stairs, and found us in the bedroom. He was lifting and dropping a magazine I had left next to the bed, the only way he could make some noise. I got out of bed, and carried him back down the stairs, and brought him into his room. He was out of water, that was the problem. I filled his bowl, gave him a hug, and went back to bed.
After a couple of years in our current house, Abby the chocolate lab came to live with us. Oolong was very brave, and wasn't scared of her, but Abby was a big chicken, and wasn't sure of Oolong. Slowly, they learned to coexist, and even could be seen napping together from time to time. When Oolong died, Abby sniffed him, and sat quietly against my knee. She knew.
I was at work on Friday when I got the call. Heidi, the lovely woman who cleans our house, had given Oolong a treat like she always does, and went about her work. She came back downstairs for something, noticed Oolong sleeping in his sunbeam, and went to scratch him, and he had gone. He went peacefully, like the sweet peaceful soul he was. It's funny, how such a quiet little guy can leave such a hole. But it wasn't just him, it was the family folklore he represented.
Every family has their in-jokes and sayings, just their *things* that they can only say to each other, that very few others understand. A lot of ours revolved around Oolong. Little songs, daily habits, every time one of them comes to mind or we do one out of habit, it hurts. I know people who have had pets get this. A being that loves and counts on you unconditionally suddenly being gone will have an effect. Fortunately, I can honestly say that we didn't take him for granted. We loved him without reservation every day he was with us, and we do the same with Abby, especially now. She is very good about accepting the extra hugs and pets. Like I said, she knows.
This has been a difficult year for me, there has been a lot of changes. While things like Megan graduating and going to college have been amazing, they have also been hard on my heart, and other disappointments and difficulties that are too petty to go into have been rough, too. I will be glad for a new year and a new beginning.
Thanks to everyone who read this long and rambling post, it's self indulgent, I know. And I may not be done on this subject yet, but I think I am right now.
Oolong doing what he loved most, napping in the sun.
