The Bunny Chronicles

Growing up, I'v been allergic to lots of things. Needless to say, pets were always out of the question.

One day, my mom brought inside a little guy who seemed to be lost on our lawn. Now, I was never one to drool over cute animals (mostly because I knew I would never get one) but when I saw this bunny, I could almost feel my heart smiling.

I convinced my mom to let me keep him and named him Lemony. A week later, we let him play on the lawn and he ran into my neighbor's. When we asked if we could get him back, they told us that his name was in fact Gizmo and he was their's.

I like to think he's really happy with his old family and that he's stopped wandering into other people's lawns and breaking little girl's hearts.

~

Once I got over the Lemony thing, I was like "what am I gonna do with all this bunny stuff?" and after a ton of begging, my sister and I convinced my parents to get us another bunny.

When we got to the store, they let us pick out a bunny each!

Debbie picked out the scary one on the left, named Juliet. I picked out the one on the right, named Olaf. They were inseparable.

Unfortunately, Olaf was a bit on the autistic side so he often ran into walls and threw himself off my bed. One day, he took it a bit too far.

Less than two days after, Juliet stopped eating all together and got diarrhea. After two days of caring for her,  she passed away as well.

This was extremely hard since they were our first real pets. And the first to die under our care.

I like to think they're somewhere up in bunny Heaven, snuggling, sharing apple sticks and grooming each other.

~

At this point, I didn't really feel fit to care for myself, much less another bunny. But after a while, my mom took matters into her own hands and got my sister and I... another bunny!

She named him Baby Panda and they instantly hit it off. BP was charming and sweet and before we knew it, we all fell in love with him. We allowed him to eat at the table with us and when it was cold, he would sit on our beds and make us pet him.

My mom and Baby Panda.

At that moment, he was the best bunny I had.

He was happy and energetic and trusting and he sneezed and he answered when I called his name.

When he had to be put down, the whole family agreed that we would never ever get another bunny ever again. 

We tossed out the stale bunny food, and put away his cage.

Looking at animals made me sad for a very long time. 

It was terrible.

~

On January 12, 2012, a very kind young man showed up at my door and delivered what would become my bestest friend in the entire world.

I like to think that I have become a great bunny owner. Using everything my previous bunnies have taught me, I am trying to make Leia the happiest animal ever.

I like to think that, wherever they are, they are nodding their heads in approval.

~

I'v come to think of my bunnies as wonderful little companions. They all have their own space in my heart.

Some guy (Irving Townsend) once said "Each new kitten becomes his own cat, and none is repeated. I am four years old, measuring out my life in friends that have succeeded, but not replaced one another"

I guess that's kind of what I'm doing; measuring my life in bunnies.