so i just realized its been close to a year since if been on here. yikes.
for lack of time and content, i’ll repost something i put on facebook back in december.
here goes:
a co-worker had that quote up on her page today, and
although for different reasons, its totally applicable.as a zookeeper, i’m faced with the reality that nothing is mortal; in life there is a 100% death rate and when working with animals, i’m likely to outlive most of them. this year has been a tough one, more recently in the last 6 weeks. working with a group of 50+, i’ve done my best not to get attached to my animals. alas, these guys are amazing and have better
ive got a handful of “favorites,” and these last few weeks i’ve had to say goodbye to 2 of them. i’ve grown up with pets and had to say goodbye to pets, and that is hard. for some reason, this was worse. these guys aren’t pets; they’re co-workers. they’re buddies. they’re educators. they’re friends. you see them more than you do most of you’re friends, and spend just about as much time with them as you do family. you devote all of your energy to their well being, most of the time going above and beyond your quote job. when it comes to the end and you know there is nothing else you can do and all of your energy and passion has failed that friend, its soul crushing. i had the…well, i guess you can say “privilege” of being there when both of them died (one of them in my hands) and i’m glad i had those last moments. i’d like to think that a familiar face at that moment was a relief for them, and i’m happy to know they’re at total peace.
my boss was listening to NPR last week and heard an interview they did with zoo staff at the
