Something Special Last Weekend

I was at the Spring Nationals in York, PA last weekend. The awards for the year were given at a dinner on Friday night, and wonderful things happened! First, my partner's boy Basilisk took the Panda/Mutt/Blaze Ferret of the Year award for the second year in a row. Also, her boy Jitterbug took the Point Ferret of the Year, which my boy Strider took last year.

But before that, there was the very special thing that happened.

I'm going to take a minute here to tell a story -- those of you who know the Mongo story can skip the next two paragraphs! {grin}

Mongo was a beautiful hob that I got from another breeder about 6 years ago. One of the conditions of getting him was that I would finish him -- that is, show him until he got his Gold level championship. When I got him, he had less than 1000 points to go. We took him to three shows that year, and by the time we needed to get ready for the Winter Nationals, he only needed 87 points to finish. He also needed his distemper vaccine. So in mid-November, 2004, I sent him off to the clinic with my partner. He'd never had a reaction, so I was expecting him home in a few hours. That time, he had a severe anaphylactic reaction, and even though he had oxygen and anything else he needed, and she fought to keep him alive for three hours, he died on the way home.

It has always bothered me that I didn't get to keep my promise to finish him.

Last weekend, for the first time, the AFA recognized ferrets that died with less than 100 points needed for a Gold championship by presenting Honorary Gold certificates. Two were given. One of them was Mongo's.

I cried halfway through the Ferret of the Year awards, and I'm crying again as I type this.

Thanks to everyone who had a hand in this -- I don't think you have any idea how much it means!