Every time I’ve tried to write this it has seemed trite or flippant or something else that I don’t want it to be.

I put Monte to sleep this afternoon. He had degenerated over the course of the week until he could no longer walk again or reach his food bowl to eat. So we made one last trip to the vet. It was for the best. And yet I still feel his absence.

I think I have absorbed some of what other people have said and I almost feel silly to feel so sad. Yeah, he was just a hedgehog. But he was my hedgehog. And yes, he was somewhat of an anti-social little ball of spikes, but he was also a real sweetie when he wanted to be. Like the way he licked my fingers sometimes. Or the way he would come out of his ball – first the nose, snuffling away, then the ears, then the forehead, followed by his eyes and the rest of his body.

I realized afterwards that this is the first time it has been my decision and my decision alone to put a pet to sleep.

Rest in peace, little guy.