With a heavy heart I have returned from feeding the rabbits this afternoon with my dear little Lotus in my arms.

It is truely the end of an era. She has been a much loved part of our family for a couple of months shy of her 11th birthday. That is double her life expectancy.
She had a wonderful life, full of fun and family. She lived with her daughters and son for the better part of 7 years, and outlived 2 of her children. I feel very sad for her last remaining child, Phoenix, who has only ever known life with her family and with us. She is now alone for the first night ever. That must be a hard thing to cope with.

There are many things I am going to personally miss about Lotus. I am going to miss going to feed and visit the rabbits twice a day to have her run up for a scratch and a tickle. I am going to miss having Lotus lie in my arms on her back in complete surrender as I groomed her once a week. I am going to miss her chewing on my toes and jumping into my lap when I am in the cage cleaning it out.
I am very happy to have the memory of a creature normally so scared of everything in the wild be so comfortable as to fall asleep curled up next to us. I am happy that Sophia got to know the joy of being able to be so close to an animal as gentle and as patient as Lotus.
I feel blessed to have shared so many wonderful years with her. She will be missed, most of all by her daughter.

Update: Lotus spend many many hours one summer digging herself a deep burrow under a very old pomegranate tree when we lived in Nile Street. The place we lived meant that the rabbits could live pretty much free range for large portions of the day. Lotus decided she would build this extravagent burrow so set about the hard work of earthmoving. She worked hard at it and within a short while she had a multi-room underground complex. She loved that burrow, so it was only fitting that I plant her in the garden with a newly purchased pomegranante tree over her again.
One day the kids will hear long stories of Lotus and all of her children as they eat the pomegranantes. I will turn the juice into a wonderful cocktail ingredient and toast to having the priviledge of knowing her and her family.