Scruffles(aka Scruffleupagus Rex, or informally as "Da Scruff")
I woke up this morning to find that my days must now go on without Scruffles. He passed away peacefully in his sleep last night. Totally unexpected. He was perky and happy last night as I oozed his goo, scritched his itchy spots and he groomed my hands. A picture of contentment. Little did I know it would be our last time together. He was an old man, by rattie years, though. When I rescued him, he must've been nearly two and then he lived with me since September 2008. But I'm still in a bit of a shock.
He was so affectionate, sweet and good-spirited despite the lackluster start he had in life as a half-starved "disposable" breeding buck for a pet store. I'll never forget how he fervently chewed his way out of the pet store cardboard carry-box in the car on the way to his new home here because he just wanted to be held. He loved life here, thrived on the attention and fattened nicely and settled in quickly. He was an expert shoulder-sitter, who liked to hug his little body close to my neck and cuddle in the crook of my arm. All he really wanted was affection and to express affection. Everyone loved him, not just me. He was just one of those little spirits that captured your attention immediately. Life without Scruff seems, well, incomplete, oddly uncomfortable.
You will be sorely missed, Scruff. I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to have you in my life!
"Life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." ~ Rossiter Worthington Raymond