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The White Squirrel

My girls were playing nicely (and not so nicely) outside-when all of a sudden they came tearing inside and crying, "The white squirrel is back and a gray squirrel is fighting it!"

The white squirrel....
About a year and a half ago, we were making plans for my daughters' December birthdays. My middle daughter was understandably distraught--it would be the first birthday celebration since her favorite aunt and godmother had passed away with cancer. As young as my daughter was, she knew that her aunt was always with her but as she put it, the only thing she really wanted for her birthday was a hug from her. As I hugged my daughter myself, trying to comfort her, we gazed out the window and there in front of us was a white squirrel! None of us had ever seen anything like it -until my son came in the room and said, "I told you no one ever listens to me, he's been living in the shed for a month." 

Well, always looking for a new learning experience, we quickly pulled out text books to find out more about our little treasure. Unfortunately, what we learned opened up a whole new can of worms... Apparently, in the animal kingdom, albinos are a product of incest, are very sensitive to the elements (sun & snow), and are pretty much treated as outcasts within their species.

Of course, nothing could really convince us that our little visitor was anything but a sign from beyond. We saw the squirrel again the day after. The only other time was a few months later. It was the day before my husband and I were taking a very rare vacation alone (without children) to New Orleans. In the panic of attempting to pull off such a feat, I was wondering should we really be acting so selfishly? Sure enough there was the squirrel - I took it to mean a definite yes.

I'm not quite sure of the significance of today's sighting. Maybe just to let us know that all is ok.... 

7/9/00