i love You Jesus.

i realized my problem..

i like everyone

God will save the day

and all will say

my Glorious

glory glory send the glory

glory glory send the glory

glory glory send the glory

glory glory send the glory

glory glory send the glory

how long do rabbits live? my friends would ask.

10-15 if they are treated well in the home i would say.

jlo lived til she was 10.  5 of them were spent with me.

Peter Kwan had her first. He adopted her from a pet shop. She was six months old. He named her after the celebrity because as he said, "her rear grew faster than the rest of her."

When I got her, she was 3. Peter had become a consultant after college and could not find anyone to take care of her. His postings on craigslist were fruitless so I took her into my studio on the last day before he had to leave.

She came with a small cage. She only ate pellets at the time and had a small litter box. I remember the first time she felt comfortable enough to come out. She would only explore for a little while before hopping back in. She always did things on her own accord.  

 I had no idea how to care for a rabbit at the time but I learned quickly from researching and joining rabbit community mailing lists. The House Rabbit Society is awesome.

I remember reading that female rabbits eventually get uterine cancer if they are not spayed. So I made the difficult decision and brought Jlo to a vet. When I brought her home, I cried. Seeing the stitches on her shaved belly and knowing she was in pain for reasons she didn't understand was hard. I took a part of her body away from her.

Her personality changed after she was spayed. That was always hard for me to admit. I had her for two months before the surgery. She was so much braver, so much more personable back then. After, she became more easily spooked and would retreat often into her cage.

To interact with her more, I started reading about clicker-training. Jlo was incredibly smart. Also independent. She quickly learned how to follow a target (a ball on a stick) for treats. She learned how to respond to the command "up" by standing on her hind legs within two days. (She also started doing tricks on her own in an effort to get treats. Sorry, no.) I remember her dashing back and forth, running laps as if she were in the Indy 500. She was mine and I was hers. I never thought of her as a pet.  She was a roommate.

In the meantime, Gabriel had adopted two male rabbits, who were brothers. Though they were "bonded" initially, that bond broke apart and they began viciously fighting. So Gabe brought the rabbit that was constantly getting beat up to me for Jlo. His name was Appa.

Where Jlo was feminine and smart, cautious and independent, Appa was clumsy and athletic, curious and submissive. Ray and I spent months bonding them in the bathtub while Gabriel and Joey watched on webcam. (Rabbits are initially mistrustful of each other and will attack. It takes time to "bond" them. Typically once they are bonded, they are companions for life.) I remember Jlo's wtf-get-me-out-of-here face the first time I put her in in the tub with him.

Jlo and Appa became bonded. She demanded grooming often and Appa would comply. It was no longer the rabbit and me then and that made me sad. But I was happy for her that she had a companion when I was at work or out. There were times of mischief - like when they chewed a hole under my bed and made it their hiding place. Or when I found Appa with a plastic skirt around his belly, having gotten himself stuck in a bag and being unable to reach around to chew it completely off.

They had several living situations throughout the years. From a cage to a pen to being free roam to a "condo" built out of Target storage cubes. My apartment was often filled with cardboard boxes for them to chew and interact with. They ate fresh vegetables which I bought weekly in addition to hay and pellets. I'm so thankful they were both litter-box trained though rabbits apparently poop a ton. Despite the fur and hay everywhere, I would agree that they are pretty clean animals in and of themselves.

They both moved with me when I upgraded from a studio to a one bedroom. They also upgraded because I had so much more room. When I made the decision to move back to my parent's house to start saving money for seminary, Jlo and Appa moved up to Boston to live with Gabriel for awhile until I got up here. Not having a car or my own place, I wasn't able to see them much when I started school. I'm thankful because I know Gabe and Joey took great care of them.

Yesterday, Joey called me and told me Jlo was on her side. Her leg was shaking and she had soiled herself. She had already been sick recently, probably had cataracts and was getting old. I knew it was time. He brought her to the vet and they put her to sleep. I knew it was ok. I knew my Jlo. She is smart and brave. She would understand.

I wasn't always the best friend/mom to her. There were many nights when I went to sleep without feeding them until the next morning because I was too tired from being out. I made her bleed once when I didn't know how to clip black nails and cut too deep. She and I have had times when we were closer and when we were not. But I loved and respected her immensely. And I felt on a deeper level, we understood each other.

I used to imagine that when Christ returns and the new creation is here, Jlo and i would be able to fully communicate with each other. We wouldn't have the distance that exists between animal and human.  I don't know if that will be true. But I know that God loved her very much to create such an extraordinary rabbit.     

Rest in peace Jlo. Thanks for letting me care for you for a little while.