Entropy Reducers Amalgamated

Back in June of 2004, we received from my son's school a guinea pig from the science department to care for the summer. We were trying out the whole "pet with kids" thing; Elana and I had had a guinea pig before who needed to be euthanized back in 1995, right before son #1 was born, and we weren't sure if kids and pets were going to work for us, so we gave it a try. "Buffie" came to us, and sons #1 through #3 were instantly enamored of Buffie. She learned quickly to squeak and beg for food every time the refrigerator door opened; she had us trained in no time.

In the fall of 2004, right before we moved to our new house, the school science department was being repainted, and we were told not to bring Buffie back in, so as not to expose her to construction dust, mess, and paint fumes, etc. One month led to the next ("Don't bring her back now, it's the holiday season." "Um, do you really still have her, we got another one.") We held on to Buffie throughout the 2004-2005 school year.

Come May of 2005, the original provider of Buffie felt that she should be returned to the school, or at least to the original provider. A short custody battle ensued, during which time the school gave the original donator a new guinea pig to replace Buffie, as we had become quite attached (read: "We'd rather fight than switch!") to our little critter.

When we inherited a bunny in June of 2006, Buffie was even accepting of the new interloper, in her own way.

Now, it's 3 years out, we didn't know how old Buffie was when we got her but she was at least 4 years old by our reckoning, and probably closer to 5 or 6, which is pretty old for a guinea pig. We had noticed lately that she had been slowing down, and not quite as hippity-hoppity as her next-cage neighbor.

This afternoon, after returning home from services at our synagogue, the boys found Buffie barely breathing, out in her cage the sun and fresh air. (As a special treat, we had put her out in the shade on our deck this morning, also to make room for lunch guests.) We brought her inside, where she looked up at all of us once, and then expired peacefully among her doting and adoring family. (It was somewhat uncomfortable explaining this to our 10 or so lunch guests. As you can imagine, it cast a pall upon the meal. Were the kids not among half-a-dozen of their friends, it would have been much harder.)

We buried her this evening, amidst a river of tears and good-byes from all of us.