Wilbur the Guinea Pig

When Ki was younger we had her in a co-op preschool. The school rents space inside of a church. My job our last year was as the official "pet care taker". I cared for Bo the white rat. Then mid year he uh, kicked off. But I have to say prior to that he had a great time over winter break at my house. He became obsessed with escaping from his cage and roaming our home. This once included traversing from my office all the way into the kitchen and adorning my mother's foot while she did the dishes. Luckily, she is unfazed by animals and rats.

Following Bo's demise and subsequent burial in a Cheerios box in the trash can, it was my mission to replace the preschool fuzzy pet. I lobbied to get a guinea pig, as they are not as offensive to many a Mommy as a rat. Also, they are fairly hardy asthe weigh 1 1/2 to 3 pounds. Better in my opinion, then say, a hamster whose little legs can snap off too easilly.

So I became obsessed with adopting an adult guinea pig. I found one on Craig's List. A handsome guy whose pet-loving family held him often. So Wilbur, the sweet and tubby guinea pig, became a member of the preschool. Our time overlapped at the preschool for 6 months and then Ki moved on to kindergarten. Overtime I occasionally inquired about Wilbur.

Last week Squid was kind enough to call and let me know that Wilbur had passed on. I think he had a good life. How many piggies get little kids sliding fresh veggies into their cages all day?

A few days later I got the following e-mail from a friend who is still at the school:

I popped by the school yesterday to grab my daughter's jacket that she'd left on her hook. As I was going in the outside door, there was an elderly church volunteer reading the sign that the teacher had put up on the outside door about Wilbur's death and to not tell any of the other students yet. He was shaking his head very sadly and then looked at me, realized that I was from the school, and said "this is SO tragic!". And I said, "I know, he was about the cutest one we'd ever had". And then the man looked even sadder and said well, "what happened to the little boy?! Then I realized that he thought Wilbur was one of the children at the school!! So I straightened that out for him that he was our school pet.

Maybe the next one can be called Fluffy or something.

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