I find myself unconsciously behaving as though Dusty is still around. I notice myself thinking Dusty is sitting on the back of my chair while I am at the computer or I am at the kitchen table. When I leave or enter the house, I still quickly close the back door. I not so much to prevent a "jail break", but because I was always trying to prevent a stray mosquito from entering the house and infecting my little friend with some nasty illness.
I still try to be extra quiet when I enter our bedroom after sunset because we would keep Dusty's cage at the far end of our bedroom when we put him to bed. On weekends he would be up before us and demand we uncover his cage. Especially if he heard us talking. Dusty didn't mind staying in our room at night. He liked to be where everyone else was and that was where we slept.
In the mornings, we would carry his cage/home downstairs so that he could have his breakfast the same time as us. When ever we sat at the kitchen table, Dusty would want to be on the back of our chair. Then after a while he would prefer to quietly sit on our leg, up close to the table cloth.
We both still miss Dusty and still talk a lot about the little things he used to do with us. We are both sad he passed away, but I am especially thankful for something that is very important me. That is that when the time came, at least one of us could be there with him to make an effort to comfort him in what was sure to be some very confusing and scary final moments of his life.
