Since venturing into single parenthood, I've been forced to make some significant changes in my life. Unfortunately, I'm only one person, and my kids require every ounce of everything I have. To survive right now, I have to take on only what is absolutely necessary and let go of whatever I can.
I've been talking with the boys for a few weeks about rehoming our ferrets. It kills me even to consider this because they've already lost so much over the last year, but we're no longer in a place where we are managing our lives efficiently or effectively. Everyone in the house is struggling, and we need to be able to let go of some things so we can pick up what we must, and move forward.
This was not an easy decision to make, and I spent a few weeks trying to navigate this. Ultimately, I decided that it was the right thing to do because we were no longer in a place to give the ferrets what they needed and deserved.
It was very important to us that we take our time and find them the best possible home, where they will be safe, loved, and, more importantly, not separated.
Earlier this week, I found a rescue in NE Ohio that has been around for a decade, and they only work with ferrets. I spoke with them a few days ago and explained our situation. I learned how they operate and what would happen to our beloved ferrets, should we relinquish them to this their rescue.
They are incredibly thoughtful and thorough in their approach to adopting out ferrets. Our ferrets, Tiny and Charlie, will never be seperated, and if for whatever reason, they don't get adopted out, they will live with the owner and her husband for the rest of their lives. They will be loved, cared for, and safe. I felt really good about this.
The kids and I made the two hour round trip this afternoon to bring the ferrets to the rescue. The boys were upset about doing this, but they knew it was the right thing to do. They were unsure of the rescue. We agreed that if we got there and felt it wasn't going to be okay, we would wait and figure something else out.
When we got there, Emmett carried the ferrets into the rescue, and we got to meet the nice lady who runs it. There was a room with an entire wall taken up with cages that are mostly all linked together. There were roughly twenty ferrets currently being housed, and they were very happy and healthy. They had everything they needed. Elliott and Emmett liked this place and were very comfortable trusting her with their little fur babies.
This place is a nonprofit and been around for over a decade. Tiny and Charlie are in excellent hands, and we're so grateful that this situation worked out so well.
It sucks having to do this, but honestly, I didn't see any other options. The kids and I are struggling to adjust to our new lives, and we're unable to manage things as we did before our lives changed so dramatically.
We all miss them, but we know we did the right thing. That doesn't make it any easier, but that's all we have at the moment.
I wish things were different. I wish I were better managing our lives right now, and this wouldn't have been necessary. I'm proud of my kids for recognizing that we were no longer able to give our ferrets the life they deserved and choosing to put them first. None of us wanted to lose them, but they needed more than we had left to give them.
By making this difficult decision, I've freed up some desperately needed resources. I can use those newly freed resources to refocus my efforts on getting the kids back on solid ground. There's going to be a period of adjustment because the ferrets played a role in our daily lives but I think we'll be okay.
