good night, sweet prince

So we lost Hamlet the hamster today, just of your usual hammy old age. He was snuggling with me when he went, cheek full of blueberry, which I think was just as he would have wanted. He had a good long life, by hamster standards - he was already middle-aged by the time we acquired him from a neighbor who was moving out of our building - and I'm so glad that silly video of him with the zucchini went tumblr!viral, because hopefully it means he'll be popping up in my notifications for a long while to come.

It's been a rough couple of years over here, and he was definitely the bright spot in them. He came into our lives just when we needed him, and has definitely helped keep my wife and me sane over the past sixteen-ish months. Short-lived pets are hard like this, but so worth it. I used to have hamsters as a kid - from roughly age 10 until I graduated high school - and I hadn't realized how much I missed them. So hopefully Hamlet will be just the first of another long line of fuzzy little friends. But for now, just gonna cry a lot for a while.

We'll miss you, lil buddy.