Evan and I wanted a dog. We went to the animal shelter to get a dog. We adopted a rabbit. . . turned out to be cooler than a dog. . .like a dog in disguise!

I have had many rabbits, but my son was not familiar with the wonderful world of falling in love with a rabbit.

On the drive to the shelter, we talked about visiting bunny rabbits before we visited with the dogs. I told Evan stories about my 20 lb. rabbit Pooka who loved to sleep in my arms like a baby, and have his tummy rubbed. The space for rabbits at the shelter consisted of 3 or 4 cages where the rabbits lived in a room adjacent to the sick kittens room. We oohed and aahed at the sneezing kittens as we walked through (knowing that a cat was not our focus for the trip.

We spent 30 minutes visiting each rabbit. Evan wanted a cute little bunny, he didn't like the big guy with red eyes. He tried to make friends with the cute, little rabbits, but they were shy and ran away from us. The little ones did not warm up to us, or show any interest in making friends.

The big bunny was very mellow, and once Evan got over his impression of a red-eyed bunny, he admitted the big white bunny was the one for us.

The big white bunny was a New Zealand white male who was a stray. He was found wandering around a wealthy area of NW Washington DC. His coat was thick and coarse like he had lived outside for several months.

I liked the rabbit because I knew that larger rabbits, like larger dogs are rather mellow. I also felt bad that bigboy was on death row. The shelter had no more room for rabbits, and the next rabbit stray that arrived would get this big guy's space, and he would be destroyed. This bigboy had been at the shelter for months, but no one wanted to adopt a large white rabbit with red eyes.

What We'll Miss Most About Big Boy. . . .
How he greeted us on his hind legs, straining for a pet on the head.
How he happily ran figure eights around the room (or around our feet) telling us 'I Love You!'
How he nudged or nipped at our pant leg if we didn't give him enough petting or attention.
How he played catch with Evan.
How he played 'face out' in his pen to get a treat or a pat on the head.
How he tossed his toys over his head when he wanted to play.
How he rearranged his house, after mommy took so much time to tidy up and vacuum.
How he closed his eyes and relaxed in bunny love when someone stroked him from head to tail.