This has been a tough week for my children.  This morning, Elvis the Hamster passed away, eight days after we lost his friend, Koda the Hamster. Miss 13 and Miss 14 were concerned that Elvis not be alone when he took his final breath, so I sat with him when they couldn’t be there and Squeekerz, our Jack Russell Terrier and Chihuahua mix, sat with him the rest of the time. Elvis was definitely the friendlier of the two hamsters, he loved to be held and talked to.  In fact, if you walked past his cage, he would immediately stop whatever he was doing and run over to the door,…

Today Miss 14 came into the living room, her eyes brimming with tears, “Mom, something’s wrong with Koda!  He isn’t moving.”  I jumped up from the sofa and ran into her room, followed by my husband and, sure enough, there was Koda, lying on the floor of his cage.  Not moving. My husband and I peered into the cage, breaths held, praying the hamster was still alive.  After a few minutes, I called it.  Koda hadn’t moved in the 5 minutes we stood staring at him.  Then we saw him inhale and exhale deeply.  That was all.  He didn’t move, he didn’t open his eyes, he just inhaled and exhaled…