I had always wanted a hamster. A cute, fuzzy little hamster that I could hold and cuddle. But when a family I know was looking for a new home for their rat, I decided to try her out before getting my beloved hamster. I named her Lucy, and she soon had the whole family in lover with her. Even my squeamish mother would rub her head gently till she fell asleep, and my big brother would sneak into my room and play with her. I never had expected to love a rat so much, and soon I no longer cared about buying a hamster. I had Lucy, and that was good enough.
For serveral years I participated in a speech and debate club, and at the time I got Lucy, I still was looking for a topic to write a speech on. After toying around with serveral ideas, I decided, "why not write a speech about rats?" Rats?? In a national Debate and speech leauge with incredbily weighty and well written speeches, how would a speech on RATS ever make an impact? But fueled by my love of Lucy and desire to give rats a good name, I went ahead and wrote the speech. It was in the Expository category, meaning that I had pictures and props to use as well. Long story short, at the very first tournament of the year, my speech dedicated to pet rats with Lucy as the star took first place in my category! This was just the start of a long school year full of informing the world on just how wonderful pet rats are. At each tournament, people would tell me how I had inspired them to get a pet rat, or how they no longer disliked rats quite so much. To know that my dear little Lucy was making such an impact on people was one of the best feelings ever.
I had owned Lucy for a little over a year when she became sick. She was an old rat, about two years or more, and we had noticed changes. She started running much slower and enjoyed cuddling quite a bit. She slept most of the time with her new cage mate, Pip. We knew the end was near, but no one imagined just how hard it would be. The day that she wouldn't leave her igloo house to even drink water, we knew something was seriously wrong. Everyone helped out. My dad and I searched countless internet sites finding ways to help her. she was moved to a seperate cage, where she spent most of her time huddled in a corner breathing heavily. she had always been such a little fatty, but now was just skin and bones. then, she seemed to be doing better. We moved her and pip back into the same cage, and kept a watchful eye. things seemed to be on the mend, when the worst happened. I was watching the two rats carefully, when Lucy suddenly got up and crawled to the staircase in her cage. she stopped, and fell down the stairs, landing in the litter where she lay, breathing heavily. I called to my mom and sister, and we carefully took her out and layed her down in a little makeshift bed. She never left it alive. about an hour later, Lucy breathed her last.
We buried her in our backyard later that day. I lined her coffin with a favorite shirt she had chewed through. It was one of the hardest moments of my life. As I look back, it is incredible to think of just how much a part of our lives Lucy became. Without her, I would never have been inspired to write a speech about the joys of pet rats, for I would never have known them. Many people despise rats for their long bare tails and yellow teeth. But if you can look past those faults and focus on the lovable personalites that make up a rat, then you will be experiencing one of the greatest pleasures of pet ownership. I love you Lucy, and will always remember you. <3