In loving memory of Whitey - R.I.P., my darling

Heartbroken. Monday, July 1st, was the last time I saw my Whitey. When I came to the park on Independence Day, and the day after, Whitey remained absent. And today I had to learn that Whitey has passed away. I also learned that Whitey was the mommy, and not the daddy as I thought, of the babies who have that same light coloration. I've seen three of them, among some other, brown and black babies.

This is a compilation of some precious moments with Whitey, ending with her legacy, one of her adorable babies.




I should have known... Whitey would always come to find me. On Monday she had already returned to the little island in the artificial lake where they have their home, about 10 yards across the water. I then found another apple in my backpack that I had overlooked, and I held it up and called, "Whitey, I found another apple!"
And immediately she came swimming back over - Whitey understood. While she was sitting by the edge of the pond,eating the apple, I touched my face to her back, even though her fur was all wet, having just climbed out of the pond, and I gave her a little kiss and told her, "I love you, Whitey."
Just because I felt like it. I had no idea it was the last time. She then plopped back into the pond and just swam around a bit, looking quite happy in doing so.

So far, only one of her babies will come close to me, along with one black and two brown ones. The one of Whitey's is the one seen in the end of the video. When I was sitting by the pond crying this evening, Sleepy-Eyes, as I call this baby, came to me and climbed on my knee for a moment, as if to comfort me. And it's great comfort indeed that the babies are there.
I met an older couple there, who told me about Whitey. They said they're coming frequently to feed them too, along with a kind lady who even comes every day. They had called Whitey by the name Bianca.
They brought them a lot of food, but they always scatter it on the lawn. I'm probably the only person who will sit on the lawn and hand-feed them, as everyone else is scared of their bites. I came away with another little bleeding scratch that I hadn't even noticed when it happened. It's worth it to me, I always loved it when Whitey would sometimes sit on my legs. Now sometimes the babies will.