TinysMom
Well-Known Member
I find myself not even knowing how to start Ori's blog. There is so much "backstory" that goes into it.
I think I'm going to call this post the "prologue" and it won't be nearly as much about Ori - as it will be about me. Because to understand my thoughts of Ori - y ou have to understand my history.
I know many of you are going to say, "The story is going to start with Tiny..." but actually - its going to start back farther than that.
About 10 days before we got Tiny - I "rescued" a white rabbit out in the road. The stupidest thing I ever did was putting an ad in the paper to find the owners - turns out they lived down the next road over.
But I rescued "Bunny"....and for a week - he lived with us.
Before I rescued him - I had been struggling with depression and was pretty non-functional. After getting Bunny - I had to get up every morning - because as soon as Art let him out of the bathroom - Bunny came running for the bedroom and jumped up on the bed to see me. Only - he did just jump there and sit - he jumped there and then jumped on me and then all around the bed and then on me again. Then he did laps around the room.
The first morning he did that - I tried to roll over and go to sleep. The second morning - I laughed. Art came down the hallway and almost had tears in his eyes as he said to me, "I haven't heard you laugh like that in years."
That was the start of us accepting Bunny (who I think now was a New Zealand White).
Bunny loved to play with Robin's beach ball. Bunny loved to follow me around the house. Bunny just loved to be with us. He also loved the carrots, lettuce, etc. that he got.
I started doing research on rabbits and trying to figure out what to feed them.
Finally - on about the 10th day after getting Bunny - we went to San Antonio to pick up Eric at the airport. On the way there...I finally broke down and got Bunny a cage. He was gonna be MINE! I told Art to NOT tell Eric - for it to be a surprise - and my normally "great at keeping secrets" husband - blew it less than 5 minutes after seeing Eric.
We got home only to have Robin tell us that someone had called about Bunny....that they lived close by and she told them that we'd get back to them when we got back in town. I called them - heartbroken - and we took Bunny back to them.
I was hooked. I wanted another bunny - I NEEDED another bunny.
The problem was we had a dog and 3 cats - so I needed a bunny that could hold its own.
I started doing research on various breeds - I contacted BlueGiants (not knowing her from this forum - in fact - not even knowing about the forum at all ) - finding out she didn't ship. But she shared with me a website for flemish breeders - I called them and begged and pleased to be allowed to come buy a bunny and finally - that Wednesday (after being bunny-less for four days) - was allowed to come up and get a flemish giant. She wasn't sure what her husband had (he did flemmies and other big bunnies - she did small ones). She thought it was black - maybe gray...but he hadn't said for sure. All I knew was that it was a buck.
So I drove almost 3 hours to pick up "Bunny" - 'cause of course this rabbit would be like the one I had - right? I'd read about flemish and their personalities - and I'd found this forum and read about Apollo - and I just knew I was gonna have a "love-bun".
On the drive up - I considered many names. Our family likes puns and jokes - so I thougth about "Jack" for Black Jack....and other names. I finally picked "Tiny" - I liked it - but it wasn't until we were on our way home with not one rabbit - but THREE rabbits...that I picked it.
So we get there and the guy has this rabbit out waiting for me. The rabbit was sorta shaking....I figured he was just as happy and excited as I was. (ha ha ha). When I put my hand near the rabbit - it cringed. But I figured....it would be ok.....it just needed a few minutes to smell me and get used to me.
I paid for my rabbit - and we went to look at the small rabbits that the women bred. She showed us two littermates (bucks) and we fell in love. I worried about keeping them together and she said, "They should be fine - they've grown up together..". She was going to be selling them for $10 each at the Duncan, OK show that weekend. I only had the money for Tiny - but Eric had $20....so Tio and Kyo came home with us.
I won't fill this thread with pictures of Tiny - but if it wasn't for him - and for his story - Ori's story wouldn't have the same meaning.
Here's Tiny and the tweebs during that time - and shortly after - when Tio and Kyo started fighting..
By the way - we thought it would be hilarious to show folks Tio & Kyo and then say, "Do you want to see Tiny?" and bring out this huge buck. It worked - we got tons of laughs at it.
[line]
As many of you know - Tiny and I had a hard time at first. I'd read about Apollo and wish Tiny was like that. I sorta halfway regretted getting Tiny- it took me HOURS of laying on the floor and letting him eventually use me as a jungle gym ... for him to stop being scared of me.
Less than three months after getting Tiny - we moved to our new house and the rabbits got their own room where Tiny lived much of the time....and he was happy and so was I. I didn't have my "Bunny" .... but I was growing to love Tiny.
My memories of Tiny are funny- up until last October - they were mostly of things he did - like running from my bedroom out to the litter box with a frantic look on his face..and then the look of relief as he used his litter box and ran back to the bedroom. Or seeing him snuggling with various girls.
But once I moved into HIS room last October - everything changed. Suddenly, I was HIS mate....especially since I often sat on the floor to give New Hope and some others baby food and pumpkin. Now Tiny crawled all over me and knocked me over - and suddenly - I was his bondmate. Whereby he and Miss Bea were close when they were younger - the final time she moved into the office to be with him - she played second fiddle to me. It was obvious - I was his.
I spent 12-18 hours per day with Tiny. I talked to him more than I did Robin or Art...and he sat at my feet while I worked with my phone job. If I got a customer that was making me upset - he started giving me kisses on my legs.
In the mornings - I'd come in and I'd set on the floor and he'd come into my lap and stand on his hind legs and let me pet him.
He may not have been my "Bunny" - like the white rabbit I'd rescued had been - but he became my "BUNNY" and for the last four months of his life - I was his bondmate.
When I lost him suddenly in February - my world turned upside down. I couldn't work that whole week because I'd sit down at my desk - and not have Tiny at my feet. To be honest with you - I wasn't sure I'd survive my grief...Tiny was such a big part of my life - and he was not my pet -he was my companion. He had taught me so much about love - now he was teaching me about loss. And I didn't like it.
[line]
Many of you will remember how just a couple of days after Tiny's passing - I wound up turning his Rainbow Bridge thread into a thread about adoption. I'd always said that when I lost Tiny - one of two things would happen- either I'd go out and get another Flemish Giant - or I'd never be able to get one again.
Art was worried about me - he was losing his wife because I was drowing in my grief - so when someone mentioned to me about rescuing another flemish giant - in Tiny's honor - Art jumped on the idea.
I had looked at some flemish on PetFinder - and Zeus jumped out at me. I think this is the picture that made me lose my heart to him...
Or maybe it was this one...
Either way - Zeus (and the help of some friends) became my lifeline to hold onto. I could go on....I had to go on...I was needed.
[line]
Speaking of Zeus, I need to update Zeus' blog - and take more photos. I love Zeus dearly and I keep struggling with the thought that I'm "betraying" him by adopting Ori.
Zeus helped me through a bad time - and I think I helped him in the fact he's someplace where he has place to play and roam and has two does to call companions.
But Zeus is like a guy who has been hurt by women in the past - so he offers someone a "relationship" where he puts them up in an apartment and then visits them every so often...when he needs them.
Zeus is like a friend that you see after a few years and pick up where you left off - only to leave and not see each other again for months or weeks - to reconnect again. Sometimes he wants to connect with me - other times - he's just happy being himself.
He's started coming to the door of the garage and out of the garage for bananas and stuff - and in time- I hope we become closer. For now though - we're both "ok" with this relationship. It isn't what I want....but it is what he wants and needs at this time.
So that is where I am right now.....missing the "Bunny" who showed me rabbits could be fun - grieving for (still) and missing the rabbit that was my best friend and companion and wound up loving me and choosing me over another rabbit - and loving a rabbit who isn't overly fond of me.
I feel like there are pieces of my heart that are still missing - and broken. I think that is why Zin is hoping Ori will "heal Peg's heart"....I just don't know that it can be healed.
So - let me close this prologue - and move on to the best part of this blog - Ori himself!
I think I'm going to call this post the "prologue" and it won't be nearly as much about Ori - as it will be about me. Because to understand my thoughts of Ori - y ou have to understand my history.
I know many of you are going to say, "The story is going to start with Tiny..." but actually - its going to start back farther than that.
About 10 days before we got Tiny - I "rescued" a white rabbit out in the road. The stupidest thing I ever did was putting an ad in the paper to find the owners - turns out they lived down the next road over.
But I rescued "Bunny"....and for a week - he lived with us.
Before I rescued him - I had been struggling with depression and was pretty non-functional. After getting Bunny - I had to get up every morning - because as soon as Art let him out of the bathroom - Bunny came running for the bedroom and jumped up on the bed to see me. Only - he did just jump there and sit - he jumped there and then jumped on me and then all around the bed and then on me again. Then he did laps around the room.
The first morning he did that - I tried to roll over and go to sleep. The second morning - I laughed. Art came down the hallway and almost had tears in his eyes as he said to me, "I haven't heard you laugh like that in years."
That was the start of us accepting Bunny (who I think now was a New Zealand White).
Bunny loved to play with Robin's beach ball. Bunny loved to follow me around the house. Bunny just loved to be with us. He also loved the carrots, lettuce, etc. that he got.
I started doing research on rabbits and trying to figure out what to feed them.
Finally - on about the 10th day after getting Bunny - we went to San Antonio to pick up Eric at the airport. On the way there...I finally broke down and got Bunny a cage. He was gonna be MINE! I told Art to NOT tell Eric - for it to be a surprise - and my normally "great at keeping secrets" husband - blew it less than 5 minutes after seeing Eric.
We got home only to have Robin tell us that someone had called about Bunny....that they lived close by and she told them that we'd get back to them when we got back in town. I called them - heartbroken - and we took Bunny back to them.
I was hooked. I wanted another bunny - I NEEDED another bunny.
The problem was we had a dog and 3 cats - so I needed a bunny that could hold its own.
I started doing research on various breeds - I contacted BlueGiants (not knowing her from this forum - in fact - not even knowing about the forum at all ) - finding out she didn't ship. But she shared with me a website for flemish breeders - I called them and begged and pleased to be allowed to come buy a bunny and finally - that Wednesday (after being bunny-less for four days) - was allowed to come up and get a flemish giant. She wasn't sure what her husband had (he did flemmies and other big bunnies - she did small ones). She thought it was black - maybe gray...but he hadn't said for sure. All I knew was that it was a buck.
So I drove almost 3 hours to pick up "Bunny" - 'cause of course this rabbit would be like the one I had - right? I'd read about flemish and their personalities - and I'd found this forum and read about Apollo - and I just knew I was gonna have a "love-bun".
On the drive up - I considered many names. Our family likes puns and jokes - so I thougth about "Jack" for Black Jack....and other names. I finally picked "Tiny" - I liked it - but it wasn't until we were on our way home with not one rabbit - but THREE rabbits...that I picked it.
So we get there and the guy has this rabbit out waiting for me. The rabbit was sorta shaking....I figured he was just as happy and excited as I was. (ha ha ha). When I put my hand near the rabbit - it cringed. But I figured....it would be ok.....it just needed a few minutes to smell me and get used to me.
I paid for my rabbit - and we went to look at the small rabbits that the women bred. She showed us two littermates (bucks) and we fell in love. I worried about keeping them together and she said, "They should be fine - they've grown up together..". She was going to be selling them for $10 each at the Duncan, OK show that weekend. I only had the money for Tiny - but Eric had $20....so Tio and Kyo came home with us.
I won't fill this thread with pictures of Tiny - but if it wasn't for him - and for his story - Ori's story wouldn't have the same meaning.
Here's Tiny and the tweebs during that time - and shortly after - when Tio and Kyo started fighting..
By the way - we thought it would be hilarious to show folks Tio & Kyo and then say, "Do you want to see Tiny?" and bring out this huge buck. It worked - we got tons of laughs at it.
[line]
As many of you know - Tiny and I had a hard time at first. I'd read about Apollo and wish Tiny was like that. I sorta halfway regretted getting Tiny- it took me HOURS of laying on the floor and letting him eventually use me as a jungle gym ... for him to stop being scared of me.
Less than three months after getting Tiny - we moved to our new house and the rabbits got their own room where Tiny lived much of the time....and he was happy and so was I. I didn't have my "Bunny" .... but I was growing to love Tiny.
My memories of Tiny are funny- up until last October - they were mostly of things he did - like running from my bedroom out to the litter box with a frantic look on his face..and then the look of relief as he used his litter box and ran back to the bedroom. Or seeing him snuggling with various girls.
But once I moved into HIS room last October - everything changed. Suddenly, I was HIS mate....especially since I often sat on the floor to give New Hope and some others baby food and pumpkin. Now Tiny crawled all over me and knocked me over - and suddenly - I was his bondmate. Whereby he and Miss Bea were close when they were younger - the final time she moved into the office to be with him - she played second fiddle to me. It was obvious - I was his.
I spent 12-18 hours per day with Tiny. I talked to him more than I did Robin or Art...and he sat at my feet while I worked with my phone job. If I got a customer that was making me upset - he started giving me kisses on my legs.
In the mornings - I'd come in and I'd set on the floor and he'd come into my lap and stand on his hind legs and let me pet him.
He may not have been my "Bunny" - like the white rabbit I'd rescued had been - but he became my "BUNNY" and for the last four months of his life - I was his bondmate.
When I lost him suddenly in February - my world turned upside down. I couldn't work that whole week because I'd sit down at my desk - and not have Tiny at my feet. To be honest with you - I wasn't sure I'd survive my grief...Tiny was such a big part of my life - and he was not my pet -he was my companion. He had taught me so much about love - now he was teaching me about loss. And I didn't like it.
[line]
Many of you will remember how just a couple of days after Tiny's passing - I wound up turning his Rainbow Bridge thread into a thread about adoption. I'd always said that when I lost Tiny - one of two things would happen- either I'd go out and get another Flemish Giant - or I'd never be able to get one again.
Art was worried about me - he was losing his wife because I was drowing in my grief - so when someone mentioned to me about rescuing another flemish giant - in Tiny's honor - Art jumped on the idea.
I had looked at some flemish on PetFinder - and Zeus jumped out at me. I think this is the picture that made me lose my heart to him...
Or maybe it was this one...
Either way - Zeus (and the help of some friends) became my lifeline to hold onto. I could go on....I had to go on...I was needed.
[line]
Speaking of Zeus, I need to update Zeus' blog - and take more photos. I love Zeus dearly and I keep struggling with the thought that I'm "betraying" him by adopting Ori.
Zeus helped me through a bad time - and I think I helped him in the fact he's someplace where he has place to play and roam and has two does to call companions.
But Zeus is like a guy who has been hurt by women in the past - so he offers someone a "relationship" where he puts them up in an apartment and then visits them every so often...when he needs them.
Zeus is like a friend that you see after a few years and pick up where you left off - only to leave and not see each other again for months or weeks - to reconnect again. Sometimes he wants to connect with me - other times - he's just happy being himself.
He's started coming to the door of the garage and out of the garage for bananas and stuff - and in time- I hope we become closer. For now though - we're both "ok" with this relationship. It isn't what I want....but it is what he wants and needs at this time.
So that is where I am right now.....missing the "Bunny" who showed me rabbits could be fun - grieving for (still) and missing the rabbit that was my best friend and companion and wound up loving me and choosing me over another rabbit - and loving a rabbit who isn't overly fond of me.
I feel like there are pieces of my heart that are still missing - and broken. I think that is why Zin is hoping Ori will "heal Peg's heart"....I just don't know that it can be healed.
So - let me close this prologue - and move on to the best part of this blog - Ori himself!
