Rio

Five days ago we said goodbye to Rio, my 6 year-old daughter's hamster pet. He was only 7 months old. We thought he'd be around longer to love him and play with. 

 

Rio was such a cute Syrian hamster. He was very shy at first when we brought him home, but didn't take long for him to be comfortable with us--especially Alisha. He liked lettuce and carrots, and enjoyed his brown bread with low-fat yogurt once a month. He enjoyed cage clean up time because it allowed him enough ground play. Like any hamster, he's nocturnal, but once up, he'd be very active running around his 3 storey cage. Alternately, he'd be busy constructing his borrow despite the fact that his cage is indestructible; chomp on his cage bars, and vacillate riding his wheel with full rodent might. He was Alisha's bundle of joy.

 

Rio looked flaccid and acted differently earlier that night. He used to greet us with his Jagger move every time we'd visit his cage, but it was amiss. We knew something went awry. A few minutes later my husband declared Rio died of choking.

 

Alisha was shocked and in disbelief initially. She tried to deny Rio's death by doing pranks with me and her father. She called out on her pet a number of times as she would normally do when feeding or playing. She clowned around for a while until it was sleeping time.

 

As I was tucking her in, she told me her heart was broken into tiny, tiny pieces. Her eyes filled up with tears. She loved Rio. He was her friend. She told me how Rio was helpful in exam time or when she's having a bad day. "Rio listened to me all the time, mom." She started sobbing. She was overcome with a great sense of loss. As a mother, I couldn't think of any word that can possibly console her. I just cried with her.

 

The next day Alisha seemed composed, but quiet. Going to the kitchen she couldn't avoid notice the empty cage. She looked at it for a while. Regaining her focus, she went about with breakfast clamped up on the couch. Loneliness was drawn all over her face. It's heartbreaking to watch.

 

Grieving is not exclusive. Some mourn openly, others mourn in private. There is no right or wrong way to grieve, no set time to end it. Most importantly, it is absolutely OK to grieve the loss of a pet.

 

Our lives settled into a normal pattern a couple of days later. We signed up Alisha to a karate class in the hope of keeping her mind off Rio. She's enjoying new set of skills in martial arts and seems happier.

 

Did she forget about Rio? Of course, not. She told me it's impossible to forget her pet, but she has accepted the fact that he's gone. At least this time, she calls this out with ease sans the tears.

 

"Hamster, hamsterrrr...You hungry? Naughty, naughty, Rio. Where are you? There you are!"