Hamster

A few nights ago, my hamster Goldie passed away.  Goldie was the class pet that I had last year when I was a long-term substitute for a majority of the school year.  Goldie was very special to me because my former students & I raised money through a can drive to purchase him and his neccessary supplies.  It took a lot of hard work and dedication to earn "Gold", and I remember the look on the kids' faces when he arrived in their classroom for the first time.

You may be wondering why I had Goldie if he was a class pet.  Why did I not raffle him off?  Why did I not give him away?  The answers are simple - fair is fair.  How could I give such an adorable animal to one child and not the other?  With that, I decided to keep Goldie as my own, but have him as a reminder of the good times I shared with my 20 children.

When Goldie passed away, I literally cried!  Some may consider that silly, especially since he basically ran around a small cage day in and day out.  However, a hamster can be just as lovable as a dog or cat.  Goldie would make me smile when he climbed his cage, and was a reminder of the first classroom I ever ran on my own.  I may get another hamster in the near future, but nobody will replace the original Goldie :-).