The last three times I visited the cemetery, I noticed a rabbit who appears to live about five feet from Ailish’s grave.

We bought our house back in late August, 2008. That winter was particularly cold, but we often noticed a rabbit sitting, shivering, in our back yard. We couldn’t figure out why he didn’t dig himself a hole in the snow; he could at least get out of the wind. He was far too skittish for us to feed him, but he did seem happy to take up residence out back.

Around that time, we decided it must be good luck to have a resident bunny. What better judge of a house’s back yard could one ask for? We didn’t even mind when all the snow melted and we discovered how much poop a rabbit generates.

We fenced the back yard (and boy, that’s a story for another day), and the bunny visits reduced significantly. Still, we’d occasionally see rabbits in our neighbourhood, and so declared any day with a rabbit sighting must be a good day. When we were deciding on a location for our wedding, we visited the University of Alberta, which seemed all but overrun with rabbits. This was certainly not a deciding factor, but it helped.

I am happy to see that Ailish’s grave is bunny-worthy.