Some of you may know that Maddie got a hamster about 2 1/2 years ago. It was the first pet that she could truly call her own. The truth is that our two older cats were a little set in their ways, and they didn't really want to devote any time to getting to know Maddie. So, we got her a hamster. Now, this was no ordinary hamster. She loved to be held and played with and she LOVED to escape! We discovered after we had her a few days that she was able to open her own cage! We had to construct a lock to keep her in. The funny thing was that when she escaped, we didn't worry. We always knew where she was. Kika had built herself a little "Hamster Hotel" in the broiler of the oven. When she escaped, she would go around the floor gathering bits of food to eat and bits of material for her nest, then would get nice and cozy right in the oven. We just had to be careful to make sure that she was in her cage when we wanted to bake anything!
We recognized that Kika's fur was starting to become a little gray a few months ago, and she was not moving around very much. So we started warning Maddie that Kika was pretty old for a hamster and might not be around much longer. When we got back from our Christmas vacation, we noticed that Kika had developed a lesion on her belly. We told Maddie that it was probably cancer, and she should be prepared if Kika were to die soon. Unfortunately, as we predicted, the cancer took her life last night.
We told Maddie after school, and she was a real trooper. She began talking about her hamster and reminiscing about the fun times she had with Kika. She helped me remove Kika from her cage and place her in a box and then proceeded to tell her grandparents, baby sitters, and uncle via phone about our loss. We plan to have a little funeral ceremony tomorrow to say our formal goodbyes. After her burial, Maddie has said that she would like to get another hamster to begin again-- "The Great Circle of Life" happens even at the level of hamsters.
Hamsters are small animals; most would even say they are rather insignificant in the pet world, but Kika was a good teacher for Maddie. She taught her how to be gentle and kind with small creatures, and she taught her about life and death. Sometimes big lessons come in small packages. Maddie says that somewhere else today another hamster was born, and we should remember that. She also says that Kika is in "Hamster Heaven" and is probably really happy there! --Out of the mouths of babes!
Goodbye Kika! Thanks for staying with us!
Thats so sad. Seriously. It brings up an interesting point though. How did you explain what heaven is? *AJ grabs a pen and paper ready to take notes should he ever have kids*
Posted by: A.J. | January 16, 2004 at 07:28 AM
Surprise! It's ME!! And I just wanted to give my condolances (that doesn't look right, so spell check me) on the loss of your precious Kika. That's a rough one, but she handled it so well! Impressive!!
And might I add that you are the prettiest people I have ever seen- Mon, you're GORGEOUS!! How did you lose weight? I have gained every ounce you have lost, I promise. I'm gonna start starving myself now so I can look as good as you when we have our next reunion. Hahahaaaa.... And Greg- I dig the hair, that's a good look for ya. And Maddie- she is absolutely beautiful!!!!
So anyway, AJ gave me access to this, hope you don't mind my interruption. I'm just glad to have seen your pics and read your fabulous blogs. I'm at work right now, so my creativity is in hibernation and I can't think of a witty thing to say so I shall go now.
Love always,
Kristi
Posted by: Kristi Bridges | January 16, 2004 at 10:13 AM
AJ, we sort of explain things about the afterlife as theories that are supported by religious texts, science, or intuition, but emphasize that no one ever knows for sure until they die. Then we tell Maddie what OUR best guesses are and encourage her to speculate herself. She seems to have developed a theory of reincarnation (hence the reference to another hamster being born), but it seems to be pretty flexible for her because she also stated that Kika was in "Hamster Heaven" (another theory that is supported by religious texts, science, and intuition). We emphasize that it is important sometimes to have a theory that we hold onto as fact (i.e. faith) for the time being to help us through hard times like the death of a pet. Thanks for asking!
Posted by: Greg | January 16, 2004 at 12:12 PM
Kristi!!!
You are so sweet! It is so good to hear from you! I hope everything is going well for you! I hope your son is doing great! He probably has a fantastically, contagious personality with a gorgeous singing voice just like his Mama!
Posted by: Greg | January 16, 2004 at 12:17 PM
Krista Lynn Bridges! How the heck are ya?! Didn't I give you the blog address in the classmates.com e-mail I wrote you a couple months ago? Did you get that? Well, no matter, I'm glad you found us. This is one of the reasons we started the blog--to keep us with old friends. As for my weight, I'm still fat--I'm just less fat! I lost about 45 pounds, but my method isn't too easy to replicate. 1. Become vegetarian--I lost seventeen pounds just by doing that. 2. Stop drinking six or more glasses of Dr. Pepper per day--brilliant! 3. Go to MFA Acting program where you will be required to take classes like ballet, movement, jazz, and physical comedy/maskwork. Just follow these three simple steps and you will be on your way to significant weight loss! Of course, it won't be enough; you'll still hover somewhere between the regular sizes and the big girls' sizes, you'll still use food as an emotional crutch, and you'll still have no set exercise regime. Oops! Do I sound bitter? I just can't believe that I am a vegetarian who takes dance classes and doesn't even have butter in the house and I'm still fat! Oh, the unfairness of it all! But don't worry about your beautiful self--you're tall, which means that you simply look like an Amazonian/Wagnerian soprano instead of like a round little dumpling like myself! Enough of my rant! I hope you're doing well, dahling! Kisses to the little man!
Posted by: Monica | January 17, 2004 at 09:52 AM
Oh me garsh! A Vegan?! Monica, who so loved chicken, beef and pork that she gave her only son- wait, sorry, that was bad. Hee heeee! I have heard that vegetarianism is back on the rise- and you've always been such a fabulous cook that you could make anything delicious and nutricious. I'm so jealous!! I'm a porker, girl- and I love my 6-8 glasses of Dr. Pepper a day! How would I make it through working all day without them?? I have so much weight to lose now, it ain't even funny. I hate shopping these days and LORD, I have ALWAYS loved to shop! You look WONDERFUL, 45 pounds made a difference. I think I would have to lose 445 for anyone to see the change in me, hahahahaaa!
Your Maddie is ADORABLE!!!! Those eyes are just killer. I bet she loves the camera, too. It sure looks like she adores having her picture taken just like Aaron does! He is such a ham. And he LOVES to sing- I tell ya what, that kid's way better with pitch than I am!! He wants to be a rock star- he says he's gonna play guitar for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on stage. Hee heeeee, if you're gonna dream, might as well dream big! I remember saying I was gonna be famous when I was about his age, too, so I think it's funny. He's my little carbon copy. Krista Junior.
I gvot a digital camera for Christmas so one of these days I'll figure out how to use it and I'll email pics of us to y'all! Maybe I could start my very own Blog.... Hmmm.... Interesting....
SOOOOO good to talk to you!!! I love ya now more than ever!! And Greg and Maddie, too!!!
Posted by: Krista | January 19, 2004 at 02:30 PM
Greg! You're too sweet- did you say I have a beautifuyl singing voice? Hee heeeee, if you could only hear me now... I sound like Harvey Fierstein most mornings and Ethel Mermann on most evenings! Aaron, however, has perfect pitch- he actually sings things in the right key, and leave the key of Q all to me. I have to remind myself that I enjoy being sharp, dammit, I don't want to be on pitch! Haaaa haaaaa.... Anyway, I am so glad to reconnect with y'all! Let's forever keep in touch be it through blogs, email or phones. Love forever to the Robinsons!!!!!
Posted by: Krista | January 19, 2004 at 02:37 PM
That is so sad.I feel so bad.But,I also know that Kika is watching over you guys and she'll do that forever.
Posted by: Simonni | October 28, 2006 at 02:55 PM