SqueakingJellybean
Mission Control -- All is ratness
Fellow Agents and Ops,
We regret to inform you that Special Agent Lynda, head of the SHIELD: Rat Division's paperwork and archives department, has retired from active service after three excellent years.
Despite being diagnosed with possible heart disease in January of 2024, Lynda outlived her fellow agents Oleksii and Dolly by many months. A while ago, she began to develop some hind end degeneration. She still kept going, continuing to play ball and dance until it was no longer fun or possible. She still came out at night for a cuddle and some rice crunchies. By the end, she had lost most of the use of her legs, was developing a mass in her lower abdomen at the site of her earlier surgery, could no longer hold food or groom herself with her hands, and had to have her food mashed or cut into crumbs. It was time.
Lynda was ferociously intelligent. Even the most advanced forage toy was no match for her! She was also protective of her dignity. (I once saw her refuse to squeak to my mother, whom she adored, because my mother did not tell her she wouldn't be visiting at the usual appointed time. Turned her back on her the next time she visited. My mother apologized, and promised to send her apologies if she would not be visiting when expected. Within seconds, Lynda was back to being social with her.)
Lynda taught us that it's not always the humans who make the rules. When we played ball (I would offer her the ball, and she would run off with it to a particular hide, then come back for a treat and another ball. Lather, rinse, repeat), sometimes she would change where the balls went, or how many treats each ball was worth. She'd make me figure out the pattern as we went. As far as she was concerned, I think, she was training me. Coexistence requires understanding, compromise, and mutual respect. Even if we don't share a language, we can still make ourselves understood to others if they are willing to learn, if we are willing to teach, and if everyone involved is patient and kind to each other.
She will be fondly remembered, always loved, and deeply missed.
We regret to inform you that Special Agent Lynda, head of the SHIELD: Rat Division's paperwork and archives department, has retired from active service after three excellent years.
Despite being diagnosed with possible heart disease in January of 2024, Lynda outlived her fellow agents Oleksii and Dolly by many months. A while ago, she began to develop some hind end degeneration. She still kept going, continuing to play ball and dance until it was no longer fun or possible. She still came out at night for a cuddle and some rice crunchies. By the end, she had lost most of the use of her legs, was developing a mass in her lower abdomen at the site of her earlier surgery, could no longer hold food or groom herself with her hands, and had to have her food mashed or cut into crumbs. It was time.
Lynda was ferociously intelligent. Even the most advanced forage toy was no match for her! She was also protective of her dignity. (I once saw her refuse to squeak to my mother, whom she adored, because my mother did not tell her she wouldn't be visiting at the usual appointed time. Turned her back on her the next time she visited. My mother apologized, and promised to send her apologies if she would not be visiting when expected. Within seconds, Lynda was back to being social with her.)
Lynda taught us that it's not always the humans who make the rules. When we played ball (I would offer her the ball, and she would run off with it to a particular hide, then come back for a treat and another ball. Lather, rinse, repeat), sometimes she would change where the balls went, or how many treats each ball was worth. She'd make me figure out the pattern as we went. As far as she was concerned, I think, she was training me. Coexistence requires understanding, compromise, and mutual respect. Even if we don't share a language, we can still make ourselves understood to others if they are willing to learn, if we are willing to teach, and if everyone involved is patient and kind to each other.
She will be fondly remembered, always loved, and deeply missed.
