ABOUT LAST NIGHT...

Winter arrived with a power outage, a cold, cold night, and for the first time, mom announced:

"I no longer like being cold." Well, tough. Cold it was. But in times of trial and tribulation, we all get together and count our blessings, so it went a little
something like:

1. Thank You, God, that all the piggies are each back in their cages and not still running around on the floor hiding because I could not find them when the lights were ON and perish the thought of a guinea pig round-up in complete and utter DARKNESS.

2. Thank You, God, that we were all guinea piggin' in the bedroom so it's already warmed up, not like the living room or the cars downstairs with frost on their windshields.

3. Thank You, God, that we are all together.

The third thank-you was especially poignant for the Miracle of YumYum! Mom finally got the nerve to call the vet and describe what happened to YumYum on Saturday, how she found him standing up on his hind legs, his front feet glued to one of the higher bars like a taxidermist had stuffed him while
in his cage, in the position piggies take when they want to peer into one another's cages, nuzzle noses, nuzzle butts, try to steal stray stalks of hay from the other guineas...except that his body was still, cold, and he was completely catatonic! She had to pry him off, wrap him gently in my special blanket, and he slowly regained consciousness, but remained limp and weak all day. The vet hospital had already closed and it was Saturday so it was up to mom. And God. We all watched mom cry and rock him gently, certain he wouldn't live through the night, but not COMPLETELY certain...finally, his eyes began moving, he began moving, but not much. Yet, every day he grew a wee bit stronger and mom decided NOT to take him to the vet, afraid that if he'd had a seizure or stroke, the trauma of taking him could trigger another, possibly fatal episode.

So, yesterday our wonderful vet called. When mom described what happened, she was completely astonished that he was alive and doing as well as he is, and agreed it better not to bring him in. She said, "He was near death" she gasped, "I can't believe he didn't die! It sounds like he was dying!" Which, even though mom never dared think the thought, was true. And we all knew it. Because...

And this part is REALLY REALLY HARD TO ADMIT HERE, but we know mom already had pulled out her softest pillowcase...just in case...she knew where she wanted to bury him...but she couldn't bear the thought.

The vet kept saying, "I can't believe he his alive, that is just a MIRACLE!" Well, we here believe in miracles!

So, we didn't mind losing power and being a little chilly last night because it gave us a Holy Dark Night Opportunity (with no electronic distractions) to thank God for our little YumYum's life! For all our lives! And for the lives of our loved ones...and a time to remember those who have passed on to the Rainbow Bridge...And because we were using a camp lantern, mom felt like we were all camping out. She not allowed (by the common sense of friends and the maintenance crew) to use candles or candle lanterns, so we camped out and counted our blessings and fell asleep, somehow warmer for it, somehow peaceful for it, somehow immune to the black out because so much light was illuminating us from inside each one of our souls.

Love,
Calvin the small