Long before I was ever owned by rabbits, I was fascinated by them. One of the first movies I saw and fell in love with - at age 2 - was Watership Down (the 1978 version, which is the best version). What I took away from that movie was that rabbits are complex, emotional beings who can be fierce when they need to be.
Fast-forward about 20 years: My spouse had rabbits, so I finally got to experience them in my life. I quickly learned they are curious, mischeivous, and opinionated creatures, and I loved having them in my life. The rabbits in our lives those first 6 or so years were awesome, but I hadn’t yet been picked by a rabbit. They loved me and I loved them, but I hadn’t yet been chosen as someone’s special person.
In 2011, after the devastating loss of our rabbit, Sydney, we found ourselves at the Humane Society. The house felt so empty without a rabbit in it, so even though we were not ready to adopt, we equally couldn’t bear the empty place a rabbit should be. In the small area where rabbits were kept, partially hidden by a stack large bags of dog food, we first met Alex. He was called Rapunzel then (back when the Humane Society thought he was a girl) and his ears were bigger than the rest of him put together. He came right over to meet us and seemed glad someone had seen him. I can’t remember if it was me or my spouse, but one of us said, “Well, we can’t leave her.” And so we adopted him.
Alex was initially very attached to my spouse, but at some point, I became his person. He would run after me like a puppy sometimes. When I put my face down near his, he would lick my cheeks. If my face wasn’t nearby, he would often just lick my pants. His personality simply filled the room.
From early on, he had weird medical issues. We believe he was probably megacolon, which made him more prone to GI stasis. One time, his stomach was filling with gas and our vet wasn’t able to do the type of surgery that might have been needed, so she told us to go to U.C. Davis, which is two hours away. Quick-thinking as ever, she was able to remove some of the gas from his stomach to buy us the time to drive him over the mountains. We made it, but that was one of the most stressful drives I’ve ever made. Other medical issues included: a cat bite on his ear that got infected and eventually required the removal of a lymph node, an infected scent gland, and kidney stones.
One of the last medical issues that cropped up was - as far as our vet could tell - a bite from some sort of poisonous spider on his stomach. It swelled up and part of it necrotized very quickly, so it required surgery. He got through it, though, with the same aplomb he always did. As a fan of Lord of the Rings, I joked that he fought Shelob, but I also realized that he really was a lot like Samwise Gamgee - kind, steadfast, and brave. And as Frodo called Sam ‘Samwise the Brave’, we started to call Alex, ‘Alex the Brave’. And this is where the name of this endeavor comes from.
Lest you think that his life was only a parade of medical issues, I can assure you that Alex lived life to the fullest in every moment. He was gregarious and curious. He loved to explore and discover new things (especially by tasting them). We didn’t have other rabbits when we adopted him, but he bonded quickly with two of our cats. Later on, when we tried to bond him to another rabbit, he was totally uninterested. He preferred cats. He was a joker - he was always up to something and making us laugh. After one of our cats passed away, I was in the living room sitting on the floor and bawling my eyes out. Alex lolloped on over and began yanking tissues out of the box and leaving them in a pile for me. He also licked tears from my face more than once. He would think so hard about doing something mischievous that you could pretty much see the thought-bubble over his head.
I learned so much from him, honestly. He was always in the moment and filled with joy and curiosity. I try to pause and appreciate small moments of beauty or joy the way he would. I try to be in the moment and embrace an experience. I try to be as unafraid of new experiences as he always was. In this way, I carry him with me always.
Because TTRPGs have this spirit of exploration and curiosity, it seemed a fitting tribute to Alex to start to make fun content in his name.