Sad Night at Our House

Wednesday night was a terrible night at our house.

Sam's hamster, Angel, died that night. It was devastating to the boys.

Sam loved her like you wouldn't believe. He got her out every night to play with her before bed, no matter what. He also got her out during the day time, but always, always at night. He loved her so much and she was a GREAT hamster. He got her when she was just a few weeks old, and from that day on they were best friends. She never bit, she played with him, when she would escape from her cage, he could always find her and she would come back to him. She was perfect for him.

That night he went like normal to get her out. Then he called downstairs and said something was wrong with her. She was 2 years old, so I had been preparing him that she was getting old and she would probably die sometime in the short future. We immediately ran up there, and she was walking funny. He said, "I think her leg is broken." He was sad. We watched her and she was dragging the back half of her body and then she would tip over. She also started gasping for air. She never made a sound, but you could tell she was in pain and really having trouble. It took about 10 minutes of doing that before she died. It was terrible to watch. Poor little thing. She finally laid down, just gasping for air. Sam sat down right next to her and started crying. Then she stopped breathing. The kids were sobbing uncontrollably and Sam kept saying that she couldn't be dead. Then all of a sudden, like 2 minutes later she took a big breath again, and then died all over gain. Sam kept watching, hoping she would start breathing again. They were crying like crazy. It was TERRIBLE. I have nver seen them cry like that before. It was real, fullblown grief. It took 2 hours to finally calm them down and get them in bed. I was sad for her, but mostly sad for the boys. It was awful. Sam talked to her several times telling her she was the best pet and he loved her. He held her again. They put a picture of themselves in the box with her, drew her a card, put in a stuffed animal friend, and made her a nice, cozy bed. Poor kids. Sam wanted he rto sleep in his room with him, but we had to say no to that.

The next day was sad too. You could tell from the moment he got up that Sam would lose it at any minute. Thankfully I was at school all day and explained to their teachers what had happened so they were prepared. I ate lunch with Sam and he talked about it. I checked on him several times and you could tell that he was trying so hard to keep it together. Finally at the end of the day, he got to hold his class pet hamster. They had just gotten him that week. That was it for him and he started crying then. He walked all the way down the hall to me, crying. Poor, poor Sam.

He has talked about her frequently and gets better and better each day, but he really misses her. She was a great pet and a perfect hamster.

Goodbye Angel. Thanks for being the perfect pet for us.