December 2019 we had a bunny at the BC SPCA that had been rescued by one of our Animal Protection Officers. She had been living in a crate that was kept in a car. She was a very ill little bunny and required syringe feeding from 9AM to 10PM every 2-3 hours. We had concerns that she may also have a contagious skin disease, so she also had to be kept in isolation and so we set up a pen in an empty room of our Cat Rescue Barn for her. To care for her we had to don full personal protective gear to enter the room. In tending to little Simone I started falling in love with her, and I think she liked me too. She was very gentle, easy to handle, curious, and social with me. She was another one that Doug said "Hon, do you want to bring that animal home?" "No, no I do not." "But I think you love that little bunny" "Yes, yes I do, but I do not want to bring another animal into our family" "Ok, but if you change your mind, you just bring her right home with you." On December 23, I went home from work to have supper. I knew I then had to return to work for Simone’s last feeding of the night. It would be the 10PM feeding and, very unusually for me, I was highly anxious about returning to work in the dark, even though I had done many other times before. To my relief Doug said he would come with me. In addition to having him for support, I was also happy that we would have the drive over and back to visit with each other. The longer hours with Simone’s feedings in the past weeks had kept me away from home more than typical. (The evening before I was supposed to attend a girls-only Yule supper party but had declined in part because of having to tend Simone, and in part because I really wanted to be with Doug and our furry family every limited spare moment) When we got to the Rescue Barn, Doug went in to the laundry room and started to play games on his phone while I pulled on the PPE and went into Simone's room. While I had her cuddled in my lap and eating, I heard a gentle knock on the glass door. It was Doug and he motioned through the glass that he wanted to see, so I shuffled around until he could see Simone suckling on the syringe I was feeding her with. Doug loved little animals, and he especially loved seeing them eat and enjoy their food. He was always sending me videos of animals eating - guinea pigs, rabbits, and baby bats were his favourite clips- if he didn't send them via messenger, he made me sit at his computer to watch them as soon as I got home. He literally never got tired of it - he just loved seeing little animals enjoy their food. It made him smile and laugh, and made his eyes so warm. During all of Simone’s stay with our branch, despite the long and unusual hours I had to put in, Doug was my champion, always saying things like, “I know you are working long hours, but don’t worry about me, you are saving a bunny’s life!” and other supportive things like that. He defended my efforts to the rest of my family who kept telling me I shouldn’t be working such long hours (out of love and concern for me, but what can you do when a bunny needs you 🙂. I was proud he got to see me at work, caring for Simone. It was our last night together After that night, Simone went into an amazing foster home who answered the urgent call sent out for help on Christmas Eve. Foster volunteers are absolute heroes. Simone recovered in her care and was adopted into a loving family in January. They sent us an update a couple of months later saying that she was doing great, had settled in with the other pets, and was right at home.