This is memoir is a flashback to when I got my first pets. They taught numerous lessons that I did not know when I first got them but I do now. This memoir reflects on when I got the pets and how I have learned from them and how I have grown as a person. 

When I was in the third grade, I had gotten my first pets. Someone from my dad’s work was giving away three bunnies so my parents surprised my brother, my sister and I and told us that we would have our first ever pets. They told us that all three of us got to pick our own bunny to name and that bunny was “ours” even though we all technically owned them together. Getting the three bunnies was a life changing event because not only did they teach me many lessons, they made great friends and they gifted me with many unforgettable memories.
One day when I was in third grade, my brother, Justin, my sister, Emily and I were watching TV like we always did on a school night when my dad came home from work. My mom was preparing dinner when he walked in and we didn’t think anything of it because it was just like any other normal day. But my mom came into the family room and both of my parents were standing next to each other, smiling at us. We stopped watching TV and looked at our parents with blank faces because we were all so confused because we didn’t know what they were smiling about. A few moments later, they announced that we were getting bunnies! My emotions were a mix of happiness and surprise and I did not know what to do so I just screamed with joy. My dad explained to us that someone that he works with owns a farm and he was giving away three bunnies because they did not have enough space for the three animals because his farm was constantly growing with other, more important animals. My parents told us that on the weekend, we would go to the farm and pick up our new additions to the family!
The rest of the week could not have gone slower, but the weekend FINALLY came and we hopped in the car and we were on our way to the farm. It was a hot, spring, day and the sun was shining bright without a cloud in sight.  My siblings and I grew more and more impatient as we got closer and closer to the house until finally we had arrived. (The farm was in the backyard of the house.) My dad’s colleague greeted us with a warm smile but I could see the sadness in his eyes but I did not understand why, I mean they were just bunnies. When we first got out of the car, I looked at their front steps to see a girl who looked about the same age as me crying. I gave my dad a look and he knew exactly what I was saying. He told me that she is sad because she has to say goodbye to her bunnies today and he told me to be very thankful that this family is giving up their pets for us. The man led us into his backyard where the farm was and I amazed. Everywhere I looked there was a different animal staring me down and it was very overwhelming. I was taking the scenery in when we finally stopped at a small cage and inside the cage there was one gray bunny and two black bunnies. My dad had brought with us three boxes and we put each bunny in its own box. We then thanked the family for giving us their bunnies for free and we got in our car. We had a pathfinder so I sat in the third row with my dad, holding a box that had a bunny in it, Emily and Justin both sat in the middle row each holding a box and my mom drove home.
When we got home, we immediately went into our backyard and claimed our “own” bunny. My dad held a finger behind his back and Emily guessed it first so she got first pick. She picked the gray one and I was extremely jealous because I wanted the one that looked different from the other two. Justin, who is four years older than me, let me pick which bunny I wanted out of the remaining two so of course, I picked the skinnier of the two because who wants a fat bunny? We had bought harnesses for the bunnies a few days before so we took them out of the boxes and put the harnesses on them so they could not run away. Emily had named her bunny Cocoa because of its color and Justin named his bunny Speedy because it hopped so fast! As I watched my sister and my brother run around with their bunnies, I was really upset because my bunny would not move. After a few minutes, I had decided what I would name my bunny. Since Justin named his bunny Speedy after how fast it hopped, I named my bunny Stilly because it had remained completely still the whole time I tried to make it hop around and play with me.
When it was time to put the bunnies in our new cage because it was getting dark out, we were all really sad that we could not play with them anymore that day. We put them in the cage and when we got inside, my parents explained to us that we could not take them out of the cage unless one of them was with us. We agreed to it but I was bummed out because both of my parents work five days a week so I could really only play with them of the weekends. I told my parents this and the next day my dad surprised us with a fence. He explained to us that since he was putting up a fence around the cage, I could take them out only if my sister and brother were there too. So every day after school, my brother would already be home because he got out an hour earlier since he was in middle school so we would all go outside together and play with our bunnies.
It has been six years since I had gotten my first pets and I have learned so much from them and they changed my life forever. First, receiving these bunnies from my dad’s colleague taught me the lesson of self-sacrifice. I know the family was giving up the bunnies because they did not have enough space on their farm but for that little girl to give up her pets who she loved dearly showed me that even at a young age, you can sacrifice the things that you love and cherish. All three of these bunnies are resting in heaven but I will never forget them because they brought me closer to my family and they gave me so many great memories that I will never, ever forget.