Thanks, Popcorn!

Our daughter discovered one of her guinea pigs dead in his cage this afternoon - a big bummer during an already emotional sliver of time between summer and sixth grade. Over the years we have loved and lost many hamsters, sometimes burying them behind the garage with prayers and tears, sometimes whisking them out of the house and into the garbage cart in a brown paper bag. One escape artist is living happily - we tell ourselves - somewhere in the walls of our house. This was different.

Popcorn vacationing at a friend's house

The guinea pig was a much-anticipated birthday gift several summers ago - a homemade coupon picturing a cartoon guinea pig was exchanged for the real thing, chosen with great care. The nocturnal, wheel-spinning hamsters paled in comparison to the lumbering, chattering, goofy, basil-loving poop factory that was Popcorn.

We sat together at the end of the sidewalk and cried, sharing stories about Popcorn and all those pets that had gone before. With geese flying overhead, we lamented the end of summer, the reality of death, our short-comings as pet owners, mosquitoes and the unrelenting passage of time. Between sobs, we laughed - and in that anxious sliver of time between summer and sixth grade - I was grateful for both.

Thanks, Popcorn, for bringing out something good in us.