We've been following Luigi the bunny for years, and came across this tribute (written by his dad earlier this month) on the fifth anniversary of his adoption. So, we wanted to share because:
1. Saturday, November 23 was #nationaladoptionday, which makes this piece quite fitting.
2.
It's absolutely beautiful.
P.S. In a hurry? Skip to the final paragraph and get ready to fall in <3
It is the eve of Luigi’s five year Gotcha Day, and in those five years, I could have never, ever, asked for a better companion and a better Best Friend. From the first day we met, Luigi wanted to be my friend – trying to get my attention at the rescue by throwing around his little stacking cups and staring at me, while all the other rabbits were more interested in the fact that it was dinner time, or keeping their distance from me. A few days later, he came home with me, and even in the early days, he never once displayed anything but sheer happiness at having a new buddy.
I have had cats, dogs, birds, and other various animal companions as a child. My cat of 17 years could do "dog tricks", and could have actual "conversations" with me. My pet parakeet could say over 100 different words and phrases, and would follow me into the shower where he would sit on the shower curtain railing, and play, by going back and
forth with me, mocking one another while we did our own special whistle together. Be that as it may, I can tell you, as wonderful and as once-in-a-lifetime as those things were, still, absolutely nothing compares to the bond one feels with a rabbit. At least for me.
Dogs, cats, and even birds, for the most part, are conditioned to "go where you go" and love you for it. Not with bunnies. They say it takes upwards of three full years before they let their guard down and have 100% accepted you- if the conditions are perfect. You have to earn their love and trust, and as far as following your lead, that just isn't happening. Rabbits are the happiest when they herd you to where it is they want you to go, and they're quite strategic about it too. And when you pass their test, the happiness they display is one of the most wonderful slices of life itself. Truth be told, there is not a greater creature on Earth. Bunnies are the very embodiment of happiness. It is not redundant to say that their favorite thing to do is be happy. That they love fun. Simply put, bunnies are quintessentially everything that is right in the world.
Because rabbits are quiet by design, when I first brought Luigi home, my biggest concern was that I wouldn't be able to understand the things he wanted to communicate. Nothing could be further from the reality of things. My aforementioned cat of seventeen years used to meow incessantly, yet I can almost instantly understand what Luigi wants or needs from one silent stare, while there are still things I have not figured out what my cat was trying to tell me.
Luigi is my first bunny, so I really have no one else to compare him to. But to say he is "smart", is an understatement. Luigi is downright brilliant. People like to say that bunnies will binky when they are happy, but there are so many more levels with Luigi. Half the time when he jumps around or does his Bunny 500's, sure, he's in a good mood, but there's often a method to his madness. He may simply want to play tag, be trying to corral me into his room to refill his hay, or get me to come to bed if I've napped past bedtime in the wrong room. Yet, without question, there are indeed times Luigi simply just needs to run the gauntlet, for nothing more than to get some overjoy out of his system. But there are also other ways he tells you what he's feeling - the head shakes because he likes you petting his rear quarter-panels, or because a piece of homegrown dandelion tastes especially good at the moment. The purring when he's absolutely elated in 7th Heaven. The grabbing his little parakeet ball-bell, because he wants you to come play catch. Giving kisses to the things around you because he's happy you're nearby. The thumps, because he doesn't like the oboes in Schubert's Unfinished Symphony or the sound of Morgan Freeman's voice. The little piggy grunts, reminding you that he doesn't need you picking up the things around his hay box at the moment. And best of all, the little 1-2-3 tooth clicks he does, to let you know he's content, or okay, and how doing it back to him always reassures him of the same.
I could spend twenty more pages listing out all the things he does- the fact that he's figured out how to push open doors, the way that he's set his own bed time and follows it almost religiously, the way that he strategically rearranges his own room for nothing more than the purpose of being more conducive when he wants to play Hide & Seek. But instead, I will just stop right there and say that I have never, in my life, felt the kind of love for another living creature the way that I feel love for Luigi. He has never once made me angry. Never once made me feel annoyed. I love every single minute with him, and he has literally, made me laugh at least once, during each and every one of our 1,826 days together. Happy Gotcha Day, buddy.
We figured we'd share Luigi's mug, too. We're seriously big fans over here.
