This is Lale
The title makes his name sound like it rhymes with Kale, but the proper pronunciation is Lah-Lee. In this photo, Lale is only 6 weeks old and in his first crate!
Backstory
Around 5 am, in a Paris hotel, my siblings and I waited in the lobby for our parents to check out. We were going home after a long stint abroad in Switzerland, Thailand, and France. (This is when I was 7 years old) As I sat on my suitcase looking around the lobby my eyes caught sight of a Giant Stuffed Bunny.
Now, Bunnies were my 100% favorite animal and everything for me was bunnies. To the annoyance of my mother, I also asked for a pet bunny constantly. I walked up to the large cabinet it was on and stared at it. The hotel clerk was super nice and handed it down to me and my parents came into the lobby to see me hugging this bunny. It was a large white Jellycat. My favorite.
I turned to my mother and said, “Mommy, if you get this bunny for me for Christmas, I will never ever ask for a pet bunny ever again!” I think she said something along the lines of okay… we’ll see…. The normal parental response to satisfy small children. 😉 I didn’t totally expect to actually get the stuffed bunny for Christmas because I knew it was unlikely.
Lo and behold, a Large Pink Jellycat was sitting by the fireplace for me on Christmas morning. That morning, I held that bunny the whole time, and I could not stop smiling. Surprisingly, I did keep my promise, and I have never asked for a pet bunny since. This is where Lale comes in. This year’s Christmas was, I think, the best Christmas morning ever!
The night before Christmas, all through the house, the children were stirring, even the…. well, dogs don’t rhyme with the house. The night before Christmas I was in my room and as usual one sibling floated in, and then another, and then another, and soon enough everyone was hanging out in my room. My younger brother said, “I heard Dad say the word BUNNY in the garage!” We all talked it over and had ideas of bunnies forming in our heads. From that comment, I went to sleep dreaming of four little bunnies waiting for us, and I even thought of names.
The next morning, I woke up around 8:30, and I could hear people upstairs, but I didn’t hear the sounds of squeals at a small cute animal, so I figured there were no bunnies. I felt like I didn’t truly believe the whole time that there were going to be real bunnies but a small part of me still hoped. I then decided to finish my book in the next hour and a half, so I sat there reading.
When I finished my book (which was super fantastic), I decided to go upstairs. At this point, I had decided that it was a nice fantasy but not true. As I entered the kitchen, my siblings and parents were gathered around a pile of boxes on the table. It was a metal tray with a box and a popcorn box with a lid. There were the words “For Karibella” and “do not move” sharpied on the sides. Everyone was waiting, and I slowly approached the box, and somehow, I didn’t think that there would be a bunny. I opened the lid and sniffing at the corner was this super tiny tan fluffy baby bunny!
Surprising myself, I started crying I was so surprised! Eventually, I picked him up, and he was all cute and fluffy and definitely a bit scared but still very sweet.
Now he is a bit bigger, a bit less scared, and still absolutely amazingly cute!
