The Hazard Chronicles

Camping season is fully a thing now. House projects continue. Addy and I spent about five hours putting a bunk bed together on Saturday. The yard is starting to look presentable and everything is good. Nothing too significant this week.

Except...

We lost a couple of members of the family.

*****

About a month ago we were skiing and Maren was super morose for most of the day. "Off" days happen to everyone, and we thought maybe she was just having a hard time keeping up with the rest of the family. But then she asked, almost gloomily, if maybe she could ride up a lift with just Rachel and me because she wanted to talk about something privately. Obviously something was going on.

That lift ride is when she told us she had been doing a lot of thinking over the last several months. She loves her bunnies so much. They have almost become a part of her identity. And she really wants them to be happy. And then, crying, she said that she just didn't feel like she was doing a very good job. She mentions that she had no idea how much upkeep was required to keep bunnies clean, healthy, fed and happy. We were away too much as a family. When we were at home there were a lot of competing interests, and the bunnies had started getting neglected. She had almost felt resentful of them at times at the fact that they required so much care, and that she was tired and just wanted to do something else. "It's not fair to the bunnies to have me as their mom."

We tried our best to be empathetic, because I think I get it. It's hard though. After all, how do you tell your own child that there have been moments in your own life when you have felt the same way...about them? You probably don't. But their have been times that I think every parent feels those things for at least a little bit. And what they do is get up the next day with an increased resolve and maybe make some changes so that they can feel invested again.

But Maren had been thinking for a while and she wasn't about to be consoled by quick answers. She said that she was more invested in the bunnies themselves than she was in her relationship with them. And then she said the words that I have been waiting for...hoping for...for the past several years. I just didn't think it would be so hard to hear them. "I think I want to give them to someone else, but not right away. I have to make sure they will go to a home that will love them more than I do."

Oh, my Maren. Those bunnies have been the greatest thing in her life. After numerous talks though (not just on a ski lift) she stuck to her decision that this would be the best thing. And so we started looking for a home. Personally, I feel like it was a very mature decision for her to make.

*****

After some looking, we found a new home and started making preparations. Yesterday, Marshmallow and S'mores went to their new home. I don't think things could have worked out any better. About a year ago a family moved in a few houses down from ours. They have five kids, but the oldest is Maren's age. Lindsey basically lives at their house, and their kids basically live at ours. Our teenagers have all been babysitters for them, and they pet-sit for us when we are out of town. We invite each other to cookouts and double dates. And Corrie, the mom, grew up raising bunnies. She knew just what to do. Her family would love to adopt our dear Marshmallow and S'mores, as long as Maren could come down every once-in-a-while to show them some love and maybe watch over them while the family was out of town.

Woah. This was huge. And perfect. Jackson went over and helped them to assemble the new enclosure that we had purchased for them. When all was set, Maren and Addy both carried the bunnies lovingly down the street to their new home. They placed them in the cage and spent a long time saying goodbye. It was tough.

They came back with tears in their eyes. And though I could not imagine a better transition, it was felt by everyone that we had lost a part of the family. They will be loved so much by the younger kids, and is nice that Maren can go visit pretty much whenever she wants. It's still hard though.

This is when we first got the bunnies. They were so little! It was during Covid and we would take them to the park where nobody was outside and just let them run and run in the big fields.