In September of 2003, we got a hamster. The kids wanted a pet, so we thought this would be a good place to start. While driving home from the pet store, we tried to convince the boys to give the hamster a cool name like Yoda or Einstein…they came up with Hamo Wamo Muhlestein. Hamo lived in a nice plastic cage with tubes and towers and a nice wheel. He liked his plastic ball that allowed him to run though the house, but he really liked escaping to his hideaway under the washing machine. The kids took him out to watch cartoons and Nick loved holding him up to his face. They carried him in their pockets, took him outside, and made him do hamster yoga.

In December 2004, Hamo’s life ended. We buried him in the wash at the end of our street under a nice little tree. We had a memorial service with music provided by Nick and his guitar. He made up a song just for Hamo. Benjamin cried a lot, and Gordon put flowers on the grave. Hamo’s headstone still stands and has been turned into a geocache where families come to find treasures and pay their respects. Uncle Chad made us a Tribute to Hamo song in his studio and in it the lyrics say “Don’t be sad, new hamsters aren’t so bad….You’ll be glad….When you see….A new hamster in your family.” Well, now we have Yamo. And new hamsters aren’t so bad.