Wednesday, September 05, 2007
How I Coped
If you read yesterday's BLOG, you may be wondering how I coped with losing favorite bunnies and hot prospects, dealt with so much death, struggled through the work, worked through my lightening strike injuries, and coped with the fears that I would lose everything. Well, like the Beatles said, "I get by with a little help from my friends."
I was absolutely floored by the support I got from my rabbit friends. Sure, Andrew was great through the whole thing, clocking many bunny hours. But my bunny friends could have simply written me a nice note each and that would have been enough. But no, they went far beyond the call of duty!
A group of rabbit friends "up north" (meaning northern Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland) sent me a hydrangea in full bloom and a box of Godiva chocolate. I had been on a diet for six months when the chocolate arrived. I was absolutely thrilled - nothing tastes better than a favorite you've been without for a while. Over the next couple of weeks, I ate 25 of the 26 pieces. I enjoyed each one immensely - Godiva is my all-time favorite chocolate. But more than that, each time I had a piece, I thought about the support from my friends.
I still have the hydrangea on my countertop. There's but one living leaf left. I hope that it's still alive when the weather cools. Maybe it will come back. But if not, it did its job already.
Another friend showed up at my house one Saturday morning with 8 bales of hay. They were "in lieu of flowers." And what a great substitute. My bunnies were on all hay by that time and we'd disposed of our old hay and had only gotten some fair bales as substitute. The hay was a lifesaver and, again, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of support.
One of my Maryland friends wrote me almost daily for weeks on end. She offered ideas and possible solutions. She let me cry on her shoulder over and over again. It was so nice to have an outlet for all of my frustrations and sadness.
One of my friends in Kentucky, who also wrote frequently offering tips and insight, offered me the use of 10 of her cages to get some of my rabbits safely away. I couldn't take her up on her offer because, at that time, I wasn't sure whether her rabbits could be affected, but it was the kindest of offers.
Another friend offered to pick up my sale bunnies so they wouldn't be affected, but I had to decline for the same reason.
I did decide, though, to separate six rabbits and bring them inside the house. Can you imagine how hard it was to pick just six to save? Another friend in NC dropped everything and made me six cages with trays in one day. Talk about going beyond the call of duty! I was so relieved to get those bunnies out of the barn, not knowing what was causing what at that stage. (The six were Rio, Lex, Java, Jamillia, Merlin, and Padawan).
I lost track of how many people, upon hearing about my situation, wrote to tell me which The Nature Trail's bunnies they had. They offered to breed two rabbits from my stock to produce pure The Nature Trail's offspring for me. They offered me the use of the bucks. They offered me young does from my lines. It was such a comfort to know that if the worse should happen, I would be able to pick up the threads of my work and go on. I was so glad that I had sold some of my favorite bunnies to breeders nearby - and to breeders with such big hearts.
There were other emails asking what they could do to help. I usually couldn't think of anything, but it made me feel good to have the offers.
And I can't forget my veterinarian. He was so sympathetic throughout. I've never had rabbits euthanized by a vet before, but one day, when I had to go there anyway, I took five that were obviously not going to make it. He impressed me so much with the gentleness that he used when handling the bunnies. I had already had so much death that it was a comfort to see them go with no struggle or stress.
With all of the kindness shown to me, I think the biggest test was when it was time for me to start showing again. Would I be welcomed back? Would exhibitors trust that I would never intentionally put anyone's rabbits at risk? So before the show, I emailed several exhibitors to ask how they felt. They were all positive. Several told me that they hoped that I had a successful show - to help balance out some of the unfortunate summer in some way.
So I went and I did well. After the show, I got a huge hug from one of my bunny friends. It was so nice to be celebrating with my friends after having leaned on them all summer for support.
Laurie
¶ 6:53 AM
I was absolutely floored by the support I got from my rabbit friends. Sure, Andrew was great through the whole thing, clocking many bunny hours. But my bunny friends could have simply written me a nice note each and that would have been enough. But no, they went far beyond the call of duty!
A group of rabbit friends "up north" (meaning northern Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland) sent me a hydrangea in full bloom and a box of Godiva chocolate. I had been on a diet for six months when the chocolate arrived. I was absolutely thrilled - nothing tastes better than a favorite you've been without for a while. Over the next couple of weeks, I ate 25 of the 26 pieces. I enjoyed each one immensely - Godiva is my all-time favorite chocolate. But more than that, each time I had a piece, I thought about the support from my friends.
I still have the hydrangea on my countertop. There's but one living leaf left. I hope that it's still alive when the weather cools. Maybe it will come back. But if not, it did its job already.
Another friend showed up at my house one Saturday morning with 8 bales of hay. They were "in lieu of flowers." And what a great substitute. My bunnies were on all hay by that time and we'd disposed of our old hay and had only gotten some fair bales as substitute. The hay was a lifesaver and, again, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of support.
One of my Maryland friends wrote me almost daily for weeks on end. She offered ideas and possible solutions. She let me cry on her shoulder over and over again. It was so nice to have an outlet for all of my frustrations and sadness.
One of my friends in Kentucky, who also wrote frequently offering tips and insight, offered me the use of 10 of her cages to get some of my rabbits safely away. I couldn't take her up on her offer because, at that time, I wasn't sure whether her rabbits could be affected, but it was the kindest of offers.
Another friend offered to pick up my sale bunnies so they wouldn't be affected, but I had to decline for the same reason.
I did decide, though, to separate six rabbits and bring them inside the house. Can you imagine how hard it was to pick just six to save? Another friend in NC dropped everything and made me six cages with trays in one day. Talk about going beyond the call of duty! I was so relieved to get those bunnies out of the barn, not knowing what was causing what at that stage. (The six were Rio, Lex, Java, Jamillia, Merlin, and Padawan).
I lost track of how many people, upon hearing about my situation, wrote to tell me which The Nature Trail's bunnies they had. They offered to breed two rabbits from my stock to produce pure The Nature Trail's offspring for me. They offered me the use of the bucks. They offered me young does from my lines. It was such a comfort to know that if the worse should happen, I would be able to pick up the threads of my work and go on. I was so glad that I had sold some of my favorite bunnies to breeders nearby - and to breeders with such big hearts.
There were other emails asking what they could do to help. I usually couldn't think of anything, but it made me feel good to have the offers.
And I can't forget my veterinarian. He was so sympathetic throughout. I've never had rabbits euthanized by a vet before, but one day, when I had to go there anyway, I took five that were obviously not going to make it. He impressed me so much with the gentleness that he used when handling the bunnies. I had already had so much death that it was a comfort to see them go with no struggle or stress.
With all of the kindness shown to me, I think the biggest test was when it was time for me to start showing again. Would I be welcomed back? Would exhibitors trust that I would never intentionally put anyone's rabbits at risk? So before the show, I emailed several exhibitors to ask how they felt. They were all positive. Several told me that they hoped that I had a successful show - to help balance out some of the unfortunate summer in some way.
So I went and I did well. After the show, I got a huge hug from one of my bunny friends. It was so nice to be celebrating with my friends after having leaned on them all summer for support.
Laurie
¶ 6:53 AM
