Remembering a Friend

Today is a sad day. 10 hours ago I lost one of my beloved ferrets, Oscar. Oscar had developed Adrenal disease last year-very common in ferrets- and yesterday his body succumbed to the disease. It's always hard to loose someone you love and I loved Oscar. He has a neat story about the transforming power of love that I would like to share.

Oscar joined my family in March of 2002, the weekend of the Academy awards, which was the inspiration for his name. I had lost my first ferret Finnegan in February and Riley didn't like being on his own so I had decided to get 2 babies that could be companions to Riley and to each other (ferrets are very social creatures) Turned out to be a good decision as Riley didn't really like his new brothers so Murphy(who was adopted in February) was going to need a playmate.
I made several trips to the pet store that had baby ferrets. In the most recent pack there was a little sable runt. He was often picked on by the others and had become very hurt and scared of ferrets and people. I wasn't sure I was ready for another sable as that had been the colouring of Finnegan, the ferret I had just lost. Over two weeks though I saw all the other ferrets find homes except this little runt. I would try and pick him up when I was in the store but he would just scream if anyone(including store staff) tried to touch him. When you did pick him up he just wanted to get away, shaking and terrified that he was going to get hurt. My heart just grew for the little guy, left alone in the pet store, scared of the world. Real Love isn't something that you fall in-True love is a choice. I chose to love Oscar.
I wondered in my brokenness whether I would be able to love this skittish little fuzzy, I wasn't sure. But I knew that is what he needed so I brought him home. It took time for Oscar to trust my love. To know that in my hands he would not be hurt and would be safe. Often I had to initiate the contact with him struggling to get away. But then there was a point where he wanted to be near me, not being touched just close enough to feel my presence. That lead to a welcome response to being cuddled and played with and finally to the day just over a year later, when he would come to me for affection and love. Oscar turned into a delightful playful little pet, transformed by love.
He taught me that I was capable of loving something that seemed unlovable. He taught me that hurt and fear can be overcome by love. He taught me that in order to be transformed by love we need to trust and accept it when it is offered. He taught me that first impressions need to be explored and not just taken as face value of who someone is. He taught me how to love.
I'm going to miss him.