I hope, in their developing brains, that this translated to, "What a nice thought! But no, Dears, and I love you."
When I was growing up, there used to be a pet store in the same strip as Fred Meyer...when there used to be a Fred Meyer. It was fun to go in there, because I got to imagine how the other children in the world lived.
I could picture it all in my young mind: a girl goes into the store, looks at every animal for several minutes each, finds the pet of her dreams because it locks eyes with her, she tells her daddy she wants it, and her daddy buys it. Then she and her pet live happily ever after, in playfulness and sweet friendship.
This never would happen to me, I knew. I can't explain why; it was just something I knew, like I knew one day a week we would have Wheatina for breakfast.
And yet, the impossible can happen, as life continues to show me.
I'm not sure how or why, but one day Ron came home from that pet store with a hamster. And there it was: living, breathing proof that everyone got a pet--but me.
But come on, it was Ron, so he shared it with everyone. Ron named him "Dude", but it was totally the family pet. (Kinda like how Ron earned our Sega Genesis for getting his Eagle, but it was totally the family video game system.)
But come on, it was Ron, so he shared it with everyone. Ron named him "Dude", but it was totally the family pet. (Kinda like how Ron earned our Sega Genesis for getting his Eagle, but it was totally the family video game system.)
My memory might be sketchy on the time frame, but it seems like it was just two short weeks before Ron renamed our hamster. It was inevitable.
Because one day, when we went to his aquarium to give him some food, we noticed that he had nine, naked infant hamsters in there with him. And being the bright children we were, we exclaimed, "Dude! He's totally a girl!"
Ron just smiled and quietly brought us back to Earth with his calm statement, "I guess we'll call her Dudette."
We were fortunate enough to take part in the raising of several baby hamsters. They were small, and cute, and furry, and sneaky. We had to find them when they went missing and buy two more aquariums as they began to multiply and replenish. Eventually we gave up keeping track of all of them and giving each a fitting name.
Life could not have been more exciting for us. There were two helpings of hamsters for every Guymon child, and there were rarely two helpings of anything for us. It's just basic math.
Life could not have been more exciting for us. There were two helpings of hamsters for every Guymon child, and there were rarely two helpings of anything for us. It's just basic math.
I can't remember when, but I know for sure that eventually they all passed, because we didn't always have hamsters. I don't think we even had them for a year.
And now, I can't help but ponder on life's little surprises, and that sometimes, our blessings multiply faster than we can count them. And sometimes, our realities shift completely, and our lives are never the same.
Because now, I don't want a hamster.
I'm gonna go call my mom again and thank her for being so patient. Also, I'll ask her where she went to hide so she could cry in secret....
I'm gonna go call my mom again and thank her for being so patient. Also, I'll ask her where she went to hide so she could cry in secret....
My hamster lived the longest -- Pepper -- one of boys from Dudette's original litter. I attributed it to the fact that I never touched or held that lucky hamster; I merely cleaned his cage every two weeks as was required, and Ricky would lift Pepper out, put him in his rolling ball, and place him back in the cage again when it was clean. Like you, I will never have pets, not even dogs.
ReplyDeleteI think Mom's secret place to cry is all alone at 2:30 am when she awakens for the day. My favorite place to cry is right in front of the perpetrators -- they need to know that Mama is human and has feelings, too. Feelings of bitter betrayal and endless joy. Perhaps what I really want to know is how are these two feelings even compatible in the same day, same hour, or even spent on the same child?
Loved your post -- as always charming. Don't you worry, I am always ready to sit a while.
Dudette, Nat, thanks so much for writing my family history in a way that is fun to read and insightful. I love our family. I also didn't remember that Pepper lived the longest. Those hamster months were fun. A few related stories:
ReplyDeleteI remember when Dudette was still Dude and I woke up one morning and she was in the covers of my bed. She somehow hopped off the top shelf of the closet in the room that Jim and Mark now share, and got into bed with me.
One hamster only had three legs. Remember how we weren't sure for a while if it was born with three legs or if it got eaten? Then one day when our dear Mother cleaned out the hamster cage, probably after her 2:30 a.m. cry session, and she found a hamster leg wrapped around the bar of the axle of the hamster wheel. Then we no longer had to wonder if the three legged guy was born like that.
A lot of the hamster babies got sent off to friends, or a preschool. Mark Kimber told me that he thinks his got lost in the heating ducts in his house.
What fun memories!
It was only one week later that those nine babies were born! Eventually, we talked the neighbor girl into taking all 23 of them, lock, stock and barrel. She was thrilled and you children really were too because the "joy" of feeding, cleaning and keeping the boys and the girls separate had worn off. I remember Pepper and I do remember finding the tiny leg...
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