A Tribute to Chess

Last night at 5:07pm my American English Spot rabbit, Chess, passed away. Chess has been in our family for seven years. My grandma bought him for me from a rabbit breeder in CT while she visiting my Aunt Fran. I remember when he first came home when he was about a month old. At that point in time we had a little cage for him in our garage. But soon Chess began to out grow his little cage so we bought him a new purple cage that he lived in until his death. My mom likes to joke that he was the best fed rabbit because since we almost never had rabbit food, Chess lived off of my dad's Kashi cereal, strawberry tops, and all the vegetables left over from vegetable platters. Even though he ate a lot, Chess wasn't fat just really long.

Even before I left for college last August, my little sister Allison began to take care of Chess. She moved his cage from outside my room down the hall closer to her room. He was her constant companion from the time she got up in the morning until she went to bed at night, resting in his cage only while she was at school.

Chess was loved not only by the members of my family, but by all our friends too. When I would be hanging out with friends, Chess would some how always end up hopping into my room, allowing Allison to barge in to retrieve him and hang out with my friends too. Chess also  participated in our photo scavenger hunts and was a guest at my murder mystery New Year's Eve party!

Chess was also really great friends with our family dog, Luke. Chess would hop around Luke, trying to get him to play while Luke lay down in the living room. Sometimes Luke would take the bait and chase Chess around the living room, but Chess always got away because he could slip under the furniture. Whenever Mom went to pet Chess in the morning when she got home from work, Luke would always stick his nose in the cage to give rabbit kisses :-* As a dog and a rabbit, Chess and Luke should have been enemies but I'm glad that they chose to be friends instead. 


In short, Chess will be dearly missed by all of us. I'm glad he died with my mom petting him, knowing he was loved. I know he's in bunny heaven now, hopping through the clouds munching on strawberry tops <3

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.  And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.  ~Irish Blessing