Those cretins!
I'm sorry that happened Jill :(
And again I'm so sorry for your loss of your Dad.
I lost both my parents last year.
(((HUG)))
Kyla

"jmcquown"

Yes someone stole it or someone pitched it in the trash.

I try to tell myself when this kind of thing happens at such a time it does
serve a purpose.

Most of us at some level, when we experience grief also experience a degree
of anger.  (Or absolute fury even)  Maybe anger at ourselves which we
usually know how do deal with, and anger with God and the world, but also
anger at the person who is gone.  The last one can be really hard to deal
with.  I know my sister and I are still very angry with our brother for not
being here.  He was supposed to be here for this part of his life, for this
part of our lives.  How could he not!

At least when things like this with the rabbit happen, it gives an outlet
for some of that anger.  And hopefully keeps us from taking it out on each
other.

I hope for the most part things are going gently and peacefully for your
mother and for you.  Purrs and hugs are still on the way.

Jo

Jill, most hospitals do have "lost and found", where articles left in
rooms are taken. Your
phone call was probably taken by a nurse who was busy, or just didn't
otherwise want to
take the time to track it down. Why don't you try the hospital again,
it sounds like this
is very important to you. You might ask for the charge nurse.
Sherry

Some people's self-centered behavior is incredible!

Joy

From personal observation:  This is not uncommon in nursing homes and
hospitals.  Turn your back and it's gone.  MLB

Maybe not Jill.  When Rob was in Chapel Hill, Mandy picked out and bought
him a stuffed kitty.  It was placed in the bed with him where he hugged it
and kept it with him.  A couple of days later I was alone with Rob and he
seemed fretful.  I looked around, no kitty.  I asked the staff members what
was with this.  They said that he'd had it with him that morning and they
didn't know what was going on.  Then one of them remembered that
housekeeping had been in his room and that his bedding had been changed.
They called down and neither department knew for sure about the kitty.
However Housekeeping said that it might explain the strange threads that
were in a load of laundry.  P. O.ed I went down to the gift store and bought
him another kitty just like the one Mandy had selected for him.  I gave it
to him and he settled down right away.  I then went to the nurses station
and told them that, if the kitty disappeared again, I was going to make them
wade through the peed on laundry for it.  For some reason they believed me.
The kitty still sleeps with Rob and is a great comfort when things get rough
for him.

Pam S. sorry about the bunny

On a similar note...My mother spent several years in a nursing home.  I
visited her several times a week throughout her time there, so I always knew
when something went missing (and that was frequent, although not as bad as I
have heard about some other locations).  My sister and I bought her a Beanie
plough horse because Mother grew up on a farm in rural Ohio, and her father
used plough horses at that time.  The Beanie was gone *the very next day.*
She also loved Hershey's kisses.  I would take a bag in and give her a few
at each visit.  A friend gave her a little container that we used for awhile
to store the kisses.  Well, the entire package would be empty in just one or
two days.  The aides said Mother probably ate them.  Impossible!  Finally, I
bought a little lock box that I kept in her dresser.  I also painted our
name in *very large* white letters over the black top to make it unappealing
to anyone else.  It had the type of lock where I would enter a code to open
it.  That's a rather ridiculous way to store candy, but it worked.  From
then on, there was always candy available for her.

Mother had lived with me for five years, and I was her sole caregiver.
During her last few months with me, I hired a nursing service to come while
I was at work or when I would leave for the evening.  Her mobility and
cognition had declined to such an extent that it was no longer safe to leave
her alone.  I finally had to place her in a nursing home when she became
completely bed-ridden.  I know she would never have wanted to spend her
final years like that.  She had been a vibrant, caring woman (and I even
received calls and messages from students she had taught in first grade
many, many years earlier).  Somehow, she remained cheerful and loving
throughout all those years when she was flat on her back and frequently in
pain.  Her short-term memory was almost completely gone, so she often did
not know that we had visited.  Nevertheless, her eyes would light up every
time one of us entered the room, and she retained all her "motherly"
instincts to the very end.  She would remind me "not to get too tired" or
"not to work to hard."  My brother and sister live about 1,500 miles away,
but both of them flew down for visits two or three times a year.  She was 91
when she died last September.

Despite the numerous problems I noted, I know she received better care than
I possibly could have given her.  I also know she received much better care
because she received so many visitors, and I was a strong *advocate.*
*Everyone* at the nursing home knew me!!  It is not fair for those patients
who do not have advocates to say they receive lesser care, but it
unfortunately is true.  If any of you have loved ones in a nursing home or
long-time stay in a hospital, be sure to visit at various times of the day
instead of sticking to a routine.  It is better for staff *not* to know when
you may arrive.  I arrived much later than usual on one occasion and heard
an aide screaming at another patient and using abusive language.  I reported
that, too, and I never saw that aide again.

MaryL

People often steal from the sick, dying and dead. There's a reason
hospitals advise you not to bring anything of value with you. It's
hurtful and infuriating, but there's probably not much you can do about
it now except file a complaint which might make the thief, should he/she
hear about it, feel a bit guilty and maybe not do it next time.

Sometimes it's possible to find the culprit - a woman whose arrangement
was stolen from her mother's grave searched local cemeteries until she
found it, got the custodian to witness where it was and that she could
identify it by a message she'd put inside it (obviously an artificial
arrangement she made herself), and took it back. I can't imagine giving
a patient's stolen memento or memorial arrangement to anyone I loved or
even liked, but there are a people out there who think that sort of
thing is fine.

Cheryl