First loss

On Friday night, just before bedtime, we discovered that Lucas's beloved hamster, Ribsy, had passed away silently in his cage.

As a mother, it's hard to watch your child deal with sorrow. When we first told him that Ribsy was dead, Lucas put on a very brave face and nonchalantly said "ok". Then I said, "Lucas, it's all right if you want to cry". And then my little boy cried and cried, taking deep, staggering breaths between each sob, while at the same time he struggled to be all grown-up. I held him in my arms and tried to keep myself from crying with him. We talked the whole thing through, agreed to bury Ribsy the next day at the bottom of our hill, and put Lucas to bed, where he cried himself to sleep.

Poor thing. Lucas, I mean. And Ribsy too.

So here's a little salute to Ribsy, who ate too much (and hid the rest), who liked to chomp on our fingers, and who never really got the attention he deserved.