On my 21st birthday, Amanda and I had been dating for almost three months, and as a present she got me Ypsi [the hamster], along with a class cage [that was her sister's old 6 foot long snake cage... but it made Ypsi kinda' crazy, so he was moved to a smaller cage pictured below], some wood-shavings, food, you name it, she bought the whole set up.

I named him, Ypsi, cause that's where we lived at the time: Ypsilanti, MI. He loved sesame seeds, liked to sleep wedged in-between the glass and his running wheel, and always managed to get himself stuck under and behind things when exercising his plastic ball. Today while I was at work, Ypsi died in his sleep, curled up in his smiley face coffee mug.


Above: Ypsi, taking a breather on his exercise wheel, this was taken shortly after I moved in with Amanda, over a year and a half ago.

This morning Amanda noticed the fur around his mouth was yellow, as if he had gotten sick, and his back legs looked like they could barely hold his weight. In hamster years, he must have been in his 80's, he was only a few months away from being two [human] years old, which I think is kinda' rare for a hamster. I'm glad he made it to California, it was nice to have him keeping me company in the car those 2,500 miles...

Amanda and I buried him at the bottom of our apartment stairs, in the garden. He's off somewhere stuffing himself full of sesame seeds and running on his wheel in the sky. Rest in piece, Ypsi. You we're a cool little dude.