Grief in the Age of the Digital Natives
Our hamster died several days ago. Maybe a month ago, but nobody paid any attention to the thing so we’re not really sure how long ago. I discovered Choji lifeless in his cage while I was doing laundry. Usually I can hear him burrowing around or biting on his cage, but I didn’t hear him at all. So I kicked the cage. When he didn’t peek up at me with his beady little rat eyes, I summoned Bryan because I do not play with dead animals. He had only days before extracted a dead possum from under our porch, so I knew he’d know what to do. He poked at Choji and reported, “He’s really stiff. And kind of deflated.” I gagged and ran away. We couldn’t tell the kids right away for a couple of reasons. 1. It was very near bedtime and I knew Maya would use it as an excuse to stay up forever and I couldn’t just say, “Yeah, I know you’re sad, but go to bed!” 2. I couldn’t say it with a straight face. I might have been a little bit happy.
So we waited a couple of hours while I rehearsed in the mirror and Bryan put Maya to bed. Then we told Lena and Liberty. Liberty said, “That’s ok, I was kind of sick of him anyway.” Lena cried a little bit and then, Digital Native that she is, said, “I’m going to make a slideshow of Choji and put a sad song on it and post it on my blog and my Facebook.” She’s very proud of it, so I’m posting it here, too. By the way, when she posted it on Facebook and received condolences, she responded, “Yeah I miss Choji, but doesn’t the song go good with the slideshow?” I can’t wait to see what she does with my funeral.
In the morning when we told Maya, rather, when we remembered to tell Maya, she cried a tiny bit. We had the funeral that night and she cried more. Choji’s death has made her more concerned about when our cat Kisa dies or when Kristen’s dog Rudy dies, though. She wonders how they’ll bury a big old lab, she wonders if we’ll get another cat (yes), and all three girls want to get another hamster. ??? The answer is no. We will all just have to wallow in our grief over our one and only rodent. I will never miss seeing him put his butt up against the cage in order to pee or poop outside of his nest. That just ain’t right. I can deal with a lot of things, but an ugly, smelly rodent is not one of them.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Um, I think it is totally right that he not foul his nest. If you didn’t have a magic chair that would whisk it away, would you just go in your nest??? I mean, that’s why we had out houses before indoor plumbing. Maybe you should have given him a little chamber pot or something…
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April 24th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Knowing Choji personally as I did, I think he was just too lazy to move his butt over to outside of his nest not AGAINST the cage. Besides I will never forgive him for that harrowing morning when he escaped at our house. Good riddance, I say! (But Lena did do a nice job with that video! I bet she’ll remember to put Pearl Jam as the soundtrack on yours — she’s thoughtful like that!)
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April 24th, 2009 at 9:41 am
What a kind and thoughtful remembrance.
I hate rodents too. We’ll probably get another dog before we cave to small mammal ownership.
RIP Choji
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April 24th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Aw! That slideshow is too cute. A bit much for vermin in my opinion but she’s a child so I’ll let it slide.
I bet you’ll get a whole song instead of just a little tidbit.
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April 24th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Excellent tribute! And I’ll bet the one for you will even be better.
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April 25th, 2009 at 7:44 am
That is so sweet, the slideshow that is, NOT your attitude
I don’t have the heart to tell my kids, Gibby even named one of his Webkins Choji so I know they would all be sad. We finally buried Poppy on Thursday after he spent 4 months in the freezer so I commend you on your quick actions!
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