As the year draws to a close (although I am myself not yet a full year old), I thought I would reflect on my past, my present, and my future.

     My earliest memories are of my mother, soft and warm, and of my wiggly brothers and sister, and the smell of mother's milk. I spent most of my time with my siblings, as momma rabbits don't stay with their babies like momma dogs and cats do. They stay away to protect us from predators. After about ten days our eyes were open and soon we were crawling around all over our nest box.  When we were about 8 weeks old, we babies were all moved to a larger cage without our momma. I never saw her again. We had started eating solid food and weren't really nursing any more, but she was all I had ever known.

     I lived with my brothers and sister for another month or so, which got rather uncomfortable as my brothers got older. They got rough and pulled out almost all the hair on the back of my head and neck. There were other rabbits in the cages across from our cage, but they never talked to us. The cage was smelly and didn't get cleaned very often. It was impossible to maintain my own personal hygiene because of my long hair and the messy cage.

     One day the human who dumped food and water in for us each day picked up all my brothers and my sister. I was left all alone in the cage. I heard the human say, "Don't bother with her, she is so matted and ugly without her hair no one will be interested in buying her for a pet. Maybe I can sell her to that guy with the snake."

     I didn't know what all that meant, but I knew that suddenly I was all alone. I looked out the front of my cage. I couldn't see the rabbits in all the other cages, although I could smell them. I was scared, because I had never been all alone before. I missed my brothers and sister, even though they had been pretty rough.

     Quite a long time seemed to pass before something amazing happened! The human came back and picked me up and stuck me in a box. He said, "Somebody does want you after all."

     Before I knew it, I was in the Duchess's arms and she whisked me home to my new life. She always says she knew right away that I was a Princess. I guess I wasn't so ugly after all!

     The last six months have been just wonderful. My mats are all gone and my coat is lush and full. I have my humans who take good care of me and feed me my two salads every day. The Duchess greets me every morning and sings me silly little songs she makes up on the spot. I stand up tall with my feet on the rungs of the Palacio and listen. After she sings she feeds me my pellets.

     Then, just last month, William came to live here, too. At first I was not sure he was truly the one who was destined to be my Consort, but several dates later we both knew we were born to be together. We played together and ate lots of yummy salads. It was not long before my dear old retainer, Mr. Stuffy, was granted the retirement he so richly deserves and has been settled in a nice, comfy cupboard which suits him very well.

     Now William and I spend a lot of time napping together. Sometimes we lie head to head, and sometimes we lie side by side, and sometimes we lie close together facing different directions. But my favorite times are when William lies cupped around me so that I feel safer and happier than I ever did, even with my momma.

     Sometimes, when the weather is nice, we go outside and play in our Summer Palace. The grass isn't green now, but I still like to eat the roots. And we run and do binkies. William can do marvelously high and impressive binkies.  He is quite a handsome and athletic fellow, but also very gentle and sweet-tempered. I think we suit each other in the nicest way.

     We may soon be moving the whole household to a new place. The Duchess and the Chatelaine are very excited about it. The Duchess told me that we are all going and that it will be very nice but different. The important thing is that we will still get our salads, 5 different kinds of hay, and special pellets and get to play as much as we have here. And, of course, we will continue to get all the love and attention that we so richly deserve.

     Life is good. So, from the bottom of our hearts, William and I wish you all "Año Nuevo Feliz y Próspero!"