Snuffy's Golden Path

Once upon a time in November 2009 a beautiful rabbit princess was born in the springtime. Her mummy called her Snuffy. Snuffy enjoyed her young life. When she began to grow, her parents announced to her that it was time to begin her journey on the Golden Path. At the end of the path, she was told, is the land of the Rabbits, but her parents let her know that her journey on the path would be filled with excitement and growth.

And so on one very special morning Snuffy set off on the Golden Path. Although Snuffy was afraid to leave her parents, she learned that she would receive love and care from an adoptive human family.

So Snuffy went to live with a lovely family in January 2010.

There Snuffy met a very special lady called Kate, who was to become her forever mummy later on.As a young bunny Snuffy was so happy when she lived at Sandra’s and she used to bound up the stairs and would race Kate to her bedroom and made sure she always won. She would spring on to Kate’s bed ready for cuddles, when Kate let her out after getting home from work.

She also developed some superpowers at this time. She learnt how to clear her puppy pen in one jump. She also learnt that you got a better view of life by sitting on high surfaces to she always sought these out.

Snuffy learned all the things rabbits with superpowers (they are a rare breed) need for life. She learned how to read and write and how to do all the appropriate things that rabbits must learn. The first book she read was by AA Milne and was called 'The House at Pooh Corner. She particularly liked rabbit, who became one of her role models, because Rabbit was clever and so was Snuffy. Her favourite quote from this story was this one:

 “Owl," said Rabbit shortly, "you and I have brains. The others have fluff. If there is any thinking to be done in this Forest--and when I say thinking I mean thinking--you and I must do it.”

Sadly in late 2010 Snuffy developed something which is called E. Cuniculi, which is an evil parasite that affected her eye. She learnt her first lesson on the Golden Path, to be brave and face pain and she was treated for 1 1/2 yrs.

Snuffy’s favourite book was the velveteen rabbit. She loved this quote especially as it helped her through her very tough times:

“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nanna came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

 “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

Snuffy was a very clever rabbit indeed and decided to train Kate to call ‘Snuffy come’ and would bound towards her when Kate said 'Snuffy come' and patted the floor

In April 2011 until Jan 2013, Snuffy learned the excitement of going on holiday. Kate I moved into a beautiful flat in Cardiff and Snuffy often came to visit (when Sandra was away). By this point Snuffy and Kate had a lovely bond. Snuffy had learnt how to communicate with humans and she would tell Kate how happy she was by her sudden sprints and frisks around the room.

humans and animals want someone to offer them special love, which makes them feel happy to be alive and in February 2013 Kate met someone called Chris who was to give her this special love, although she didn’t know this yet, because they had only just met.

Snuffy learnt another big lesson her golden path at this time. She was very jealous of Chris and completely shunned Chris when he started dating Kate. This was because she loved Kate so much and wanted her to be really happy.

She didn’t know Chris and had learnt as a young bunny to safeguard herself until she knew Chris was a good human.However Chris was kind and patient with her and slowly won her affections. Kate would suddenly lose sight of Chris and then find him lying flat out on the floor stroking Snuffy. Snuffy had developed a taste for music by this time and really enjoyed the songs Chris sung about her. She wasn’t able to sing out loud but sometimes wished she could. Instead she twitched her whiskers to the beat.

In March 2013 Snuffy was officially adopted by her mummy Kate. Her foster mother Sandra knew this was a perfect match. Snuffy was so thrilled to be Snuffy Sadler. She now had the forever familyshe had always dreamed of since being a baby rabbit. Snuffy felt a sense of belonging,not just fitting in. Snuffy loved Kate and really enjoyed cuddles in bed with her while watching a film or reading a book.

She also sometimes enjoyed naughty pleasures, such asovereating which included vast amounts of cardboard and on one occasion bubble wrap!Despite her beautiful face and character, Snuffy had some vices and another naughty and very expensive pleasure was chomping on Apple cables. She chewed up four in her time and countless ordinary ones including the TV and internet. She tried but at the end of the day she knew she was a cable addict and owned it. She never attended Cable Addicts anonymous, but she was aware of its existence, because Melody told Kate and Chris about it. Snuffy didn’t really want to kick this habit and in the end Kate and Chris just had to hide the cables.

By this time Snuffy another had developed another superpower called empathy, which is knowing when others are upset. This comes when rabbits have suffered a lot of pain so they can understand how others feel. Snuffy always knew when Kate was upset and she always wanted to make Kate feel better.

Sadly in thespring of2015 Snuffy was diagnosed with a bad ear infection. A few months later this was temporarily cured by having her ears put up in a head band Kate cleverly invented made from tights! Snuffy was given her first award which was a blue peter badge from Mark the Vet.

From July until August 2015 Snuffy enjoyed a special holiday with Kate’s mum & Dad at Oak Cottage when Chris and Kate got married and had their honeymoon. Snuffy had a new surname again, Miss Snuffy Snow. She enjoyed practising her new signature. Snuffy now had a wider family with special grandparents and of course a dad. Snuffy loved how Chris made her feel she was beautiful of

Snuffy learnt another big lesson at this time. She was a bit scared eating Kate’s fingers when she gave her greens and herbs because sometimes she got too excited. Snuffy learnt to manage her excitement because she never wanted to hurt Kate. This was really tough, but she tried her best.

In September 2015 Snuffy faced a very hard emotional challenge as her family moved to Cardigan. Snuffy cheekily thought one day:

Everything in the house belongs to the bunny. Humans included. This then led to some very naughty behaviour and she insisted on living upstairs and ate three holes in three separate new carpets)! However despite behaving badly, Snuffy saw she was loved and valued. She was sorry she had upset her family and learnt one of the major life lessons on the Golden Path, that even when you behave as a bad rabbit this doesn’t mean you are bad.

Snuffy felt quite down at this time, so she tried some mindfulness exercises along with reading some beautiful things about rabbits to help her. She read this:

“Put your hand inside the hat, search with your fingers. He is the light wrapped inside the darkness. That’s the wonder of Rabbit. We think he’s not in the hat. But he is.”

Mark Andrew Poe and it raised her spirits because she liked the idea of popping out of a hat and hoped she might do that one day.

Snuffy learnt that sometimes in life you just have to get over changes and adapt. She also found that life had some great new experiences to offer her, with two loving parents. She looked forward to being in the middle of Kate and Chris sometimes, but couldn’t bear Chris’s loud snoring. Kate told her that she snored but Snuffy knew this couldn’t possibly be true.

Snuffy loved travelling. She also quite enjoyed being a bunny celebrity at times, when she noticed the general public got excited that a human was sitting in the car at a service station with a bunny on her lap. Snuffy used to do her best, cutest poses at these times. She also knew how to work it in front of the camera when she modelled for photo shots for Chris and Kate.

In December 2015 Snuffy was diagnosed with an abscess in her tummy and bravely came through an operation to remove it with the local vets.

In June 2016 Snuffy started seeing Lance, who was a superhero in the rabbit community because he made rabbits better who had very serious illnesses. Snuffy underwent another operation to sort out her bad ear and remove the infection that had returned there. By this time, Snuffy’s godmother Melody had nicknamed her as a ‘miracle in the fur’.

In October 2016 Snuffywas diagnosed with bladder cancer. Kate and Chris made a wise but extremely hard decision not to put her through any more painful operation but to give her the best care and comfort for the rest of her life.

Snuffy was reading ‘The Mill On The Floss’ at this point and Maggie Tulliver was her favourite human heroine, because she reminded her of Kate. This in her view was just like Kate:

Maggie, moreover, had rather tenderness for deformed things; she preferred the wry-necked lambs, because it seemed to her that the lambs which were quite strong and well made wouldn't mind so much about being petted; and she was especially fond of petting objects that would think it very delightful to be petted by her.

Snuffy wanted to show Kate that she knew she was caring for her in an amazing way and so she tried her best to show this by being brave, gentle and trusting when it came to Kate treating her, even when it hurt.

One night Snuffy had a dream. She saw the Golden Path and it led to a beautiful land where there was sunshine and meadows. She felt the soft sun on her fur and everywhere she looked there were lovely things, lush grass to play in and other rabbits and also plentiful supplies of basil and parsley. She also saw a lovely man with the kindest eyes she had ever seen.

He smiled and said ‘hello Snuffy, my name is Jesus’. She jumped onto his lap and he stroked her gently and lovingly. Snuffy felt so happy when she woke up.

In January 2017, Snuffy’s godmother went to visit her. Snuffy knew that she was nearing the end of the Golden Path, so she went up to Melody and nuzzled her with her nose and allowed Melody to stroke her. This was Snuffy’s way of thanking Melody for loving her and believing that she was one of the bravest rabbits on the Golden Path.

By this time she was an old rabbit and Snuffy knew in her heart that she was nearing the end of her Golden Path. She had learnt many lessons now and was getting quite tired. One of the most important lessons for her was that suffering helps you understand how other humans and rabbits feel pain and makes you a better and kinder rabbit. She had lost some of her youthful energy and started coming to sit by me under my bed until I would pick her up and bring her up on the bed for a cuddle

One day Snuffy heard a sermon and the person speaking said:

‘The question should not be will you see your pets in heaven, but rather, will they see you’. Snuffy knew she would see Kate and Chris again because they were on their Golden Path towards the human Land of the Rabbits, which humans call Heaven. This was such a relief to her, as she loved Kate and Chris so very much.

On the 29th March 2017 Snuffy reached the end of the Golden Path. She closed her eyes and then she saw a new landscape, It was just like the beautiful dream she had had. Suddenly a rabbit appeared next to her. ‘Hi Snuffy’ said the rabbit, welcome to the Land of the Rabbits. My name is Bonny.

Then another rabbit appeared. ‘I’m Biscuit. And I’m Whiskey said another. Welcome Snuffy ‘I’m Shandy’ said another voice and ‘I’m Nibbles said another rabbit. Then a rabbit that looked just like Snuffy appeared. ‘I’m Willow’. I used to be in Melody’s family and this is my sister Velvet. She pointed to a beautiful grey rabbit. All the rabbits played together and then they were joined by some other animals, including some very handsome dogs. One of the dogs said ‘hello Snuffy’, I used to live with a lady called Barbara who is friends with Kate.

Suddenly Snuffy saw a pair of golden sandals. She looked up and then saw the beautiful eyes from the dream. Jesus had appeared. ‘Hello Snuffy’ he said, I’ve so been looking forward to seeing you in the Land of The Rabbits. Snuffy leapt into his arms. You were such a brave girl while you were on the Golden Path and you brought such joy to Kate and Chris, well done, said Jesus.

Snuffy felt so happy. She knew this was her forever home and she would never feel pain again. Snuffy snuggled back into the arms of Jesus and closed her eyes and smiled to herself that she had finally reached her rabbit rest.