To say that my heart is broken is an understatement.
I feel heartsick as I think that this August as I prepare
for a new school year I will not be doing that with my friend.
Squeaky started off as just a class pet. Yes I liked him and all but he was a
pet.
Somewhere along the 3 years we spent together in first grade
he became much more than just a class pet.
He became a friend, part of the family.
He has taught my family, class and me so much in those 3
years. He was a playmate to my
kids. He was a reading partner to my
class. He was my loyal friend in my
classroom. He was always ready to
listen. He loved unconditionally.
I have been preparing myself for this day since spring
break. Squeaky had started to show his
age and I had decided that he might need to retire from the classroom. So I kept him home to be with our family. My youngest 2 kids played with him
daily. Squeaky started to look better as
if he had turned around and was ready to maybe take on the classroom
again. I had begun to think about taking
him back for the last couple of weeks so the kids could at least see him before
summer break. Unfortunately that never
happened. During one of his playtimes
with my son he suffered an injury to his back that caused him to be paralyzed
in one leg. He still got around and
played as usual but he would drag his hind leg.
This last month his health has been going down and I knew
the inevitable was going to happen. I
kept trying to prepare myself and my kids for his passing. The kids are taking it much better than me. Every time I think about him the tears
start.
We held a little funeral in the backyard and placed him under
our Rose of Sharon bush.
My husband’s way of trying to fix this was to have me rush
out to get another rat. There was no
doubt that I wouldn’t get another rat for my class pet. They are very affectionate animals and I
believe make wonderful classroom pets. But
I wasn’t really ready to get one just yet.
However you don’t tell 4 and 7 year olds you’re getting new pets and
then not do it. We went one and got 2
baby rats that are very cute and do not look like Squeaky at all. I need time to bond with them so they aren’t
thrown into the classroom setting. Once
I feel up to it I will introduce them.
Maybe I’ll even have names picked out by then.
So as this journey has come to an end, I will prepare myself
for the new journey.
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” -Dr. Seuss
