We Remember Our Erica

We occasionally share with you the heartbreak of Sanctuary Life. Because our near and dear brothers and sisters so often come from homes where they were - at best, neglected - at worst, abused, starved, left sick and suffering, dying in pain. It is for that reason we welcome them here and love them so! It is also for that reason that so many arrive with shorter than normal lifespans; less time to live amongst our marauding herd...Erica was with us the shortest time, only a few months...Mom loved grooming her lion-colored fur and fluffing up her "mane" so she looked like

a lioness with that glittery, golden-soft, fur.

Mom's spiritual teacher, Sant Rajinder Singh, has said: "If you think the sunset is pretty; oh just wait; wait till you look into God's eyes."

When we look into each other's eyes, we see God looking back!
In the eyes of every single guinea pig who has ever lived amongst us here, we
see God and feel that we are stewards of even the humblest little ones, like Erica and Calvin the small.

And, yes it is true that we chase, steal food right outta each others' mouths (one
of my favorite Things to Do!) and take each others' favorite cuddle cups for our
own naps, yet we see God in every piggie's beautiful eyes, for as long as he or she lives with us here...and we never forget!
They say eyes are the windows to the soul. Just look at dear Erica's!

Losing piggies to illness is the most difficult part of Sanctuary life, so many little brothers and sisters...even seeing the condition they are in when they arrive can be heartbreaking...like Calvin the small having been starved to the point where all of his bones de-mineralized! He was kidnapped by his owner's room-mate, who could bear it no more, and brought Lil'Cal to the farm store, who saved him for us!
Yet, no one rushes to greet mom as enthusiastically as he does, running up to the bars of his cage, chewing and pulling them to make noise, earning him special petting and chin-scrunchy-scratches! And every night he goes to bed with mom tucked into his special blanket, returned to his cage only right before she falls asleep. Although once, well...let's say he had the run o'the place all night, little devil! Mom woke up and got her F.R.E.A.K. ON!  But found him easily, all curled
up in a bed he had made for himself on the floor in a cozy place.

We wish humans could forgive and forget as easily as we do...as easily as little Calvin, starved nearly to death yet always EAGER to love and be loved!

One friend told mom we were each her "little Buddhas" sent to teach her things. If we have one thing to teach, it is to see God in our eyes because each one of us little Buddhas LOVES more than any of you can imagine! Unless you're already a cavy-slave, like our friend, PixiePie! Her Millie Bea got her wrapped around her
non-existent tail! Ha! Millie Bea got her own "dreamhouse" and custom-made cozy
furniture! Wahhh, that so funny!

One last note...mom gave cards of us to our neighbors' kids and today on her way home they were making signs for a school project about changing the world.
They had chosen animal cruelty! They were planning to set up a little "lemonade stand" kind of place somewhere to collect money to donate to our local humane society and mom volunteered to come to their school (maybe even bringing me with her!) to talk about caring for our brothers and sisters as if they were our very selves!

We were SO HAPPY!!! Squeeee for Kids Changing Our World!
The kids also gave mom hand-painted papers with animal paw prints and hearts.
We don't have one piece of artwork here more valuable than that...(well, maybe mom's postcard sent by and signed from Ansel Adams, because it changed her world a long, long time ago.) There's these little kids and they want to raise money and awareness about the need to Be Kind To Animals!
We have hope: We see God in their sparkling, idealistic eyes, even tiny
children ready to create a more peaceful world for all of us.

Have a nice weekend, everybody! And welcome to our newest members, SOS from Mexico! What a privilege to have you following our adventures here at Panda Pig's Peace Sanctuary! We actually belong to Rimjhim Duggal and Arjan Stephens: our Sanctuary was their wedding present, and the work we do is our seva (service)
to provide a loving, forever home for the forgotten and homeless piggies amongst us. (See Tuesday, March 9, 2010.) Sweet Dreams.