In 2000, my daughter Caroline decided that she wanted a pet. Specifically- a guinea pig.

I really didn't know much about guinea pigs, so we bought a few care books and looked them over. Being three, Caroline only liked to look at the pictures, but that was okay because I was actually reading the text. Caroline fell in love with the idea straightaway, and checked out all the guinea pig books that she could find from the library. However, I wasn't really too excited on the idea of getting one from a pet store. So I decided to rescue one myself.

I sent out emails to everyone I knew, searching for a guinea pig cage. I was originally planning to adopt one from an animal shelter, but apparently fate had different plans. I received an email from an old coworker, saying that he had a cage. The upside... the cage came with the guinea pig.

A few nights later, we went to collect the guinea pig with both daughters bouncing around in the backseat. He was white with spots of both black and a peanut butter color. One of these black spots was just on the tip of his ears, so they had been calling him Tippy. Caroline decided that she would call him something of her own, and dubbed him Timmy as soon as he was settled into our home.

Timmy was a piggy like no other. One of his stranger habits was that he would sit quietly in a baby stroller for ages. He was so calm about this that he wouldn't even run if we brought him outside! Caroline loved to put him in the stroller and wheel him out to where the bus dropped her big sister, Ruth, off. The first time we did this, the ever-humorous bus driver joked "Hey, Libby, new baby?" I laughed, and explained about Timmy and his peculiar habit. He found it hilarious.

Timmy also loved dandelions. He had the most odd way of eating them, too. He would slurp up all of the stem, and when he reached the flower he snipped it off with this teeth. He adored dandelions, and they were his source of comfort. Caroline still remembers running outside in the rain to pick dandelions for him.

Timmy died in 2001, as he was four when we got him. He lived a long, fruitful and happy life. He will always be remembered, not just for his habits of riding in strollers and eating dandelions, but for his sweet temperament and kind heart.