"Well, it was ... Oh! My Goodness!!", Lady was embarrased. Having been so busy, she didn't realize the date. December 23 - the anniversay of when she came to live with the 'Fuzzy Faced Man'.

"I had been living in a display with several other ferrets. I was older, and larger, than the others. Hoomans would come in and look at the smaller kits. I could hear them say, "Oh, aren't they cute!". One by one the hoomans chose the others over me. Finally, I was alone".

"I kept hearing them speak of Christmas. They talked about hopes, dreams, wishes. I had been alone for several days. I remember that, even though I knew nothing of Christmas, I made a wish of my own. I wished to have a home".

"There was a man who used to walk by the store. On occasions he would stop in and the salesclerk would let him take me out of the display and play with me, hold me. He wore funny clothes, a uniform I think he called it. There was a metal thing on his shirts that said "Security". I know that is what I felt when he held me, security...and love".

One day the woman clerk was talking to him about me. She called me 'the ferret no one wants'. She asked the man if he wanted to take me home. She said they would be closed for the holidays and could not leave me alone. The man said, "Everyone should have a home for Christmas. Christmas is about family, home, and love. I would, but I can't afford to right now".

The woman clerk said something about "a discount". But the man said he had no money at all, and wouldn't for several days. He could not give her any money at all. I saw the clerk take some green paper from her pocket and put it in a drawer. She turned to the man saying, "Merry Christmas. You can pay me back whenever".

Lady related the story of her life with the "Fuzzy Face Man" and the other hoomans that she lived with. She spoke of playing with Geordi the dog. She had fond memories of her good friend Furrice. Oh, how she missed Furrice.

Lady explained how she suddenly got ill. And how her daddy would stay up to take care of her. She began to cry when they spoke of the night when her dad took her outside. She had been ill for a while. He took her out to play in the grass and to look at the stars. It was on that night when dad told her of the Rainbow Bridge.

She began crying and could not control her tears. Suddenly she ran off. The others called after her only to have her answer, "Please ... I need to be alone!"