We lost [P]Earl. [P]Earl was Melissa’s guinea pig. First, let me explain this notation: “[P]Earl.” When Melissa first rescued [P]Earl, she was told the cute critter was a boy guinea pig. As head of the household, I took some freedom in naming him a good, American name. We settled on “Earl.” It fit him perfectly and he seemed to be pretty happy with it. Then after some delicate research Melissa discovered that Earl was a girl! A girl named Earl? So she changed her name to Pearl. Things were in order concerning rodent gender naming conventions.

Weeks turned into months. Many happy nights were spent with [P]Earl cruising around the confines. She liked to hide. She liked to scamper. She liked to eat. She liked to squeek. Melissa started to call her “little bird” due to her crooning, high-pitched frequencies. [P]Earl enjoyed two all-expense paid roadtrips across the nation too. She was a good little traveler.

About a week back [P]Earl fell sick. She went downhill fast. We think the complications were due to her eating her bedding, a common infraction for tenacious guinea pigs. Well, it jammed her plumming up real bad.

[P]Earl passed on early Friday morning. She will be missed.

We like to think she moved onto a better place; a place where the cage is even bigger, the water drip is always full and their are multiple places to run and hide with carrots and Vitamin-C drops a-plenty.

We buried [P]Earl last night on a bluff in Mission Viejo. The ceremony, though small and of small attendance was nevertheless dignified and beautiful. Thank you to Caroline for her generous heart.

[P]Earl is survived by Melissa Okins, Aaron James Draplin, Minh cat, Moon cat and whatever guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits or rats in her genealogical roadmap, related or other wise, she may have come across in her time on this earth.