Life Without Peach

Slicing a pepper, I thought sadly how I normally would save the vegetable scraps for the bunny. Peach would no longer need them. I saved them anyway, and threw them into the grass for the wild bunnies that scamper through our yard.

My nine-year-old’s immediate reaction to Peach’s passing was the most intense. My eleven-year-old’s was less so, but the sadness is more lingering. She still talks about Hoppity sometimes. “No other bunny could ever replace Peach or Hoppity,” she said.

My seven-year-old son did not show his emotion on the surface but I comforted him anyway, and there were some tears welling up in his eyes when he said goodbye.

Our toddler asked after the bunny today when she saw the empty cage. We repeated to her that Peach had gone to bunny heaven.

We finished the main portion of the swing set today. The swing side is not yet anchored – we will leave that final portion for tomorrow – but the rock wall and slide were able to be traversed. Hence there was much laughter for a good portion of the day, with tears interspersed here and there.

We had to tend to some of the more mundane and morose duties of a pet’s passing. We cleaned her cages – one for inside and one for outside. We put the food and other supplies away to save for the future.

Talking about getting a new bunny next spring gave them hope for a new life to care for, and eased their suffering some.