Debbie, inventor of SCAMPS, has died ;(

With the consent of Lynn, I was allowed to post her tribute to Debbie on the SCAMPS site:

Hello fellow list members,

I was very saddened to hear of Debbie's passing but I am grateful for her and her family's sake that the pain is over now. I wrote this when I first realized that we would probably lose Debbie to this horrible illness. Please read it with the knowledge that it was written with many tears on my cheeks and comes deep from within my heart.

Lynn

A TRIBUTE TO DEBBIE JONES

Listen, you will hear the sound of gently lapping waves, slapping the sides of the large ship as it softly rolls to and fro in the quiet night. It is dark all around, save the moonlight that shimmers and trails across the ocean top and the stars as they shine down so brightly from the vast heavens above.

Other than the gentle waves, we hear no sound. It is very hushed. We see now that the deck of the ship is completely covered by tiny little creatures, our much beloved guinea pigs, each one unique in it's own way. There is much whispering and shuffling as they stand side by side and toe to toe.

Their heads uplifted, they gaze into the heavens, each one's eyes sparkling more wetly than usual . . . are those possibly tears in the eyes of these little furry creatures? Yes, we see a few as they slowly trickle down soft, whiskered cheeks

As they all gaze up into the stars, we suddenly see the ruffling of the fur of the pigs at the very back of the group. As a breeze softly rolls forward over their backs and tickles their ears, someone cries out "There she goes! Look!!" The sudden gust of wind streams over and beyond them and up into the dark skies. As they watch, they all see a beautiful new star appear.

There . . . listen to the soft sighs and oohs and ahhs as the new star begins to glow and sparkle so much more brightly than the others. Suddenly, dozens of other smaller stars gather and seem to cluster around it. Beautiful white light that is filled with warmth and love bathes the deck of the ship and all of the little creatures that are watching with awe.

From somewhere in the middle of the group we hear a small voice whisper. "Good bye Debbie. We love you." The words are repeated over and over dozens of times. Games and fun are forgotten for now. Now they only show respect and honor to a human who had so much love and care for their kind.
They know that she has gone to the bridge now to be free from pain and join all the little ones and other humans who have gone before her. As we draw away, tears now in our own eyes, we hear small sniffles and watch as all the little pigs wander slowly back to their rooms, saddened by such a devastating loss to not only them but to Debbie's family and friends who all love her so much.

Be free Debbie. Run and play at the bridge with all of the fur babies and creatures that have anxiously awaited your arrival.

Authors Note: This tribute was written in honor of Debbie Jones. I hope she, all of you and her family and friends will know that I wrote it with sincere love, respect and sadness. I am trying to imagine what our babies would do if they could, and this is how I feel it would be.