Cookie

In 2006, I began my first year as a teacher.  I had my own 4th-5th grade classroom in a small Christian school.  I was one of the only teachers without some sort of class pet.  I decided (along with my class) to get a guinea pig for my classroom.  Dave and I went shopping to pick one out.  We knew that, though she was a class pet, she really was going to be my pet that I brought to my classroom each day and that, someday, she would be our pet.  We picked out a cute little black and white one.  The obvious name of "Oreo" was too cliché to me, so we went with Cookie instead.  When I brought her into my classroom, I asked them if they liked the name.  They suggested Oreo and, as I said, I didn't want that; so I convinced them to go with Cookie (I happened to have twins in my class who could not eat Oreos, so I said we should use "Cookie" to help them feel more included).  Cookie she was.

Every day I brought her back and forth to the school with me.  I carried her in my hands and just placed her on the front seat on my way home.  One parent in my classroom ended up making her a little fleece bag with smiley faces on it (smiley faces was the theme in my classroom) for me to carry her in.  It was so cute and everyone became very familiar with Cookie and her smiley bag.  She sometimes would go home with students in my classroom for the weekend and was always very well taken care of.  Eventually, other class pets died or moved to other schools and Cookie was the only one left the following year when I taught first grade.  She became quite popular and continued to go home with students many weekends.  They loved her!

The following year, I switched schools and decided not to continue to bring Cookie with me every day.  It got to be a lot of work, and I was having to clean two different cages, and replenish two food sources.  She became my "only-at-home" pet.  

In April of last year, she moved into our apartment with Dave when he first moved in.  We weren't married yet, so I wasn't living here and she was kinda Dave's company.

When we went on our honeymoon, my parents took care of her.  My mom started to sing the "C is for Cookie" song every time she fed Cookie and Cookie actually started to learn the song.  From that time on, every time my mom came over, she'd sing that song and Cookie would come out from hiding in her log and squeak.

Last week, Cookie died (7/27/06 - 5/4/10).  We were kinda expecting it; she hadn't been acting right, hadn't been eating, etc.  We actually had an appointment at the vet for her for the next morning.  She never made it, though, and we had to call and cancel the appointment. 

I know she was "only" a guinea pig, and, to some people, the fact that she died would probably mean nothing.  She was a pet, though, and, as most of you know, pets become a part of your family.  We'll miss her.