Orejon

Elena with her "Beans"

I was sitting at the computer in the living room, right next to the front door when she walked in carrying a large object. "I got a chinchilla" she said. I just rolled my eyes.

Dad came up with his name "Orejon". Big ears. We called him "Ori" for short.

It was kind of nice having a nocturnal pet in the house; those middle of the night trips to the bathroom were met by excited company.."you got up just to play with me?" Likewise, if I stopped by at 2 in the morning for whatever reason, there was one I could count on to be awake, eager to greet me when I walked in.

When Elena moved out, unable to move him with her, he grew very close to my mom.

It's amazing how attached we all became to this little fluffy butt.

Suddenly those bites he took out of my imported Indonesian armoire don't make me mad, but are a sweet little reminder.

Four years isn't close to the 10-25 we expected he'd be around. But in that time he grew to be the center of attention in the house. Every visitor wanted to look at him. Every child wanted to pet him. And who could blame them, he really just was that cute. Personality so unbelievably big. Smart as a whip. Who knew? And who knew I'd be sitting here crying as I edited these photos and type these words? He will be missed.

Ori the Chin