Requiscat in Pace, Tink

Tink the Hamster died yesterday.

She lived a long life for a hamster - 2.25 years in our home (a lifespan for hamsters can be up to 3 years) and, except for the last month or so, a pretty healthy and active one.

She was first in our household, not only because we had never owned a hamster before but because this is the first pet which Na Clann saw come into our home, live and die here.

The other pets they remember - mostly cats - all were part of our family prior to their being born.  The other pets we have - Syrah the Mighty, Bella, Snowball, Midnight and Kiki - are healthy (and hopefully have long lives ahead of them). 

I'll miss Tink.  She was always there in the morning, anxiously chewing away on her cage bars, ready for someone to pick her up and give her Cheerios.  To watch her scuttle about on a couch or bed - to see how quickly she moved from place to place - was amusing, as was watching her run around in her ball.  Sometimes in the ball, it almost seemed as if she was tracking you as you walked around the room.

The best memory I have of her is one morning when I was here at the computer typing in the early morning.  I felt something at my foot - "Cockroach" I internally groaned, and consciously did not look down.  It was there again, so I had to look.  There was Tink, looking up at me on her hind legs, nose and whiskers twitching in the light.  She'd gotten out of her cage and made her way from the living room to the family room.

She's along the side of the house now, next to the Iris from Old Home, buried next to Cedric.

One of The Ravishing Mrs TB's friends suggested that perhaps when hamsters go to Heaven, they're placed in small balls to power the stars.  That gives me comfort - the thought of Tink running endlessly in her ball, occasionally stopping to eat a Cheerio.

Requiscat in Pace.