About 15 years ago, in my junior year of high school, our family adopted a Vietnamese Pot Belly Pig. Well, WE didn’t, my step father did. I had heard about this pig being at the animal shelter in one of my classes. So, I casually mentioned it in conversation with my step dad that afternoon. He left the house shortly after. About an hour later he came home with this year old grunting black pig. He was scared and SCARY!! Let’s just say he was not the loving cuddly creatures you sometimes read about. He would ram our legs with his head and grunt most ominously. Many of our friends were afraid of him, though really he could do no harm.
We named him Norman. I actually had the privilege of naming him and did so after George Wendt’s character on Cheers. For some reason our local paper had heard of the news and did a story on Norman. Pig lives in city home as pet – for some strange reason that was newsworthy. So, for the rest of the semester my economics teacher referred to me as ‘pig girl’. That was fun.
Though Normie had his rough exterior (both figuratively and literally) he did manage to grunt his way into our hearts. He slept in my parent’s closet on a bed made of blankets. He would spend his days roaming and sleeping (mostly sleeping) about the yard. He loved to eat apples (and probably anything else you may drop at your feet). He lived a good life.
Yesterday, Norman had to leave us. He was euthanized due to his deteriorating health. There will be a void in our hearts and in my parent’s home. The Norman Era has ended. And though we all know it was the best decision for him, we still feel a great sadness and loss.
Bye bye Normie. Now you can eat all the apples you want and sleep in the warm sunshine of eternity. We will miss you.
