Almost three weeks ago we lost another member of our pet family. This was a tough one and the little chap in the picture, Crunchie, had been with me for a little more than 20 years.
I have written a couple of posts which include him, the first was "He links my worlds" because I bought him for R20 from a friend of mine's son, for my 6 year old son, and Crunchie stayed long after my son left home and came with me into the second chapter of my life.
He lived indoors as the ants wouldn't leave him alone outside. We never got around to making an enclosure for him, and he was so small that he just mingled with the cats and dogs. He learned over the years what the fridge was for and that it kept FOOD.
When I used to watch him walk across the room, in the dark and almost forgotten recesses of my mind, I almost thought I could hear little children laughing, picking him up, feeding him and playing with him. The children then left home, but as tortoises live to a very ripe old age, he certainly outlived their childhoods and Crunchie stayed on to live with us.
He was a well seasoned traveller as he came with us everywhere. He even had a travel bag. He was a wonderfully low maintenance pet to have as he ate and drank about 3 times a week and hibernated for 6 months of every year.
When he came out of hibernation I wrote and posted a post which centred around Widget the parrot and his craziness and Crunchie crashing out of the cupboard in November after his winter hibernation.
He loved the sun. We often found him lying stretched out, head on its side, eyes closed as he soaked up the sun. The very first time I came across this I though he was dead and picked him up so fast he shot back into his shell!
His death was a painful accident. I tried to save him but failed. We have buried him along side Bokkie, out Ring Necked Parakeet who died last year.
It is is hard losing pets, they give us much joy, and I always saw to it that I gave them the best life that I could whilst they were with us. So I will miss you my little friend, we were together for many years. You have taken memories to your grave, memories of a very small, smart little tortoise, and the joy he brought to 4 young children.
Where ever you are, I hope there is an abundance of carrots and tomatoes, finely chopped of course!
There are many things in life that we just cannot change and have to accept. Loss is one of them.
Arn't you glad that whatever the loss, we have a memory that can keep things very much alive for us.
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