[  Mood: Very Sad ]
Coco scampered off to Hamster Heaven about three hours ago.

I think she was quite relieved it was over. She was just exhausted. She went so gently that, although she was in Junko’s hands, there was about a five-minute period when we weren’t sure if she was alive or dead. I cleaned her up and wrapped her in clean blankets (an old t-shirt cut into strips that she liked to nest in), and put her in a small box filled with sweet-smelling dry grass. We added her favorite foods, and let her lie in state in the family butsudan, which has statues of what I think of as our "Three Intercessors": Kannon, Boddhisatva of Infinite Mercy; Jizo, Boddhisatva of Lost Children; and Mary Mother of Jesus. We burned incense and prayed for her.

However, as it is a hot and humid day, before leaving for work I put her in a tupperware container and put that in the fridge.

We’ll take her to the local park tomorrow and, when no one is looking, bury her in the same area as our other pets. We have four hamsters there already, plus a turtle and several tiny fish. We call it Hamster Hill. It has a good view, and a couple of sakura trees to provide gorgeous cherry blossoms in the spring.