Epilogue

Thank you for such kind condolences. It took a long time before I could look at Grandma's blog again and then I found such kindness and compassion from her readers. 

Tortellini owns the whole back yard now. She spent the first summer sitting for hours at the entrance to Grandma's burrow. A year or so later a friend lost one of her horses and described how her other horses reacted. We realized then that Tortellini had been looking for Grandma that first summer. We all missed her so much. 

Tortellini never interacted with people like Grandma did so we promised her we wouldn't bother her and she could live in peace. But a few years later we noticed she keeps track of us "hoomans" inside the house. She listens and watches through a window facing the yard. Maybe we're ok after all, as long as we leave her alone mostly. 

We had no rain this past summer. Not a drop. Record breaking heat didn't relent overnight either. Tortellini didn't even do her rain dance because there wasn't any reason and she dug deeper in her burrow. So we offered water from the hose (tortoises need fresh running water to accommodate their lack of immunity) but she usually walked away in disgust. But in late October she approached us with purpose and we knew it meant "Last Call" before hibernation. We turned on the hose, and she tanked up for a very long time before retiring to her burrow. We really hope she hibernates well and gets to enjoy rainwater next summer.