Tender Hearts of My Children

Yesterday, Justin and the kids were out playing while I was doing dishes. They were out for a few minutes when Coda burst through the door, "Mom! Come see the rabbit! Hurry!" Thinking the rabbit was going to hop away, I ran out the door to share in all the excitement.

We huddled around our cute, little, furry friend, while still keeping our distance. Justin noticed the broken leg first and we stood there looking back and forth wondering what we were going to do. It was obvious what we would do if the kids hadn't seen it, but they were instantly bonded and we had a "fluffy" problem on our hands.

Justin stood back and watched as I grabbed my box and gloves. The more I pet him, the more emotion I think we all got. The kids kept asking if we could keep him. It was even suggested that we take him to the doctor where they would make a machine for his broken leg (much like the movie "Dolphin Tale", which we recently watched). After repeated begging, I told the kids to look at the rabbit's eyes and imagine what he was thinking. Imagine the pain he was in and how much the rabbit wanted to go visit his Heavenly Father. That's when each of my beautiful children's eyes swelled with tears. After losing so many of our loved ones, they understood what it meant to go to Heavenly Father. I looked at my son, who is so quickly growing up. With watery eyes and a lip set tight to stop the quiver, he said, "Okay mom. Let's call the doctor and if they can't do anything....then...you know..." When he said the last three words, I had to catch my breathe. Yes, he understood.

We placed the rabbit in the back yard and gathered whatever leafy greens we had in the refrigerator...which wasn't much. Surprisingly, I convinced our new friend to eat some celery leaves. We left the celery, broccoli and lettuce leaves for him. The kids prayed for the rabbit and reminded me four different times to check on him before I went to bed. This morning, I was hopeful when I saw all the food was gone, but after calling the doctor I knew I had some bad news to break to my babies.

Gracie and I loaded the rabbit up in a box and packed him into the Animal Hospital. I asked the lady at the front desk what I was suppose to tell my kids. My kids were happy to know that the rabbit was going to a fun rabbit farm to be with all his friends and I was happy he wasn't suffering any more.

Now, the kids are convinced we need a pet. I told them they needed to work on their dad.