The morning passed by fast and as I was standing at the fence talking and cleaning donkey ears, Kim approached me and said there was somebody who wanted to meet me, I turned around and pretty much recognized her right away, even though I had only seen one small picture of her and Cocoa. We exchange a warm hello and hug and just started talking and talking and talking. It was so nice to finally meet Cocoa's "mommy". We had been exchanging messages and emails via Facebook for months now and I was so excited to hear that she was coming on her yearly visit to Cocoa, and we would finally meet up. It's funny, usually I am very reserved and shy and need time to assess new situations, but I liked her from the very first time we exchanged messages on Facebook and in real life she was just as amazing as I thought of her to be. Her love for Cocoa is always so apparent in her words and messages and I admired her strength and determination to make a good life for Cocoa even if it meant for her to loose a donkey friend close by. Her selfless act of love for Cocoa's sake and the pain it caused for her, was always something I was aware of and I could only imagine the hurt and yet the joy of seeing him well she experienced and still experiences. Funny I am always so aware of what others can go thru and even on the drive up that morning I was thinking about her and that she was leaving again on Monday and how hard it will be to say good bye again and it made me cry already and that was before I even had met her that day. Cocoa was definitely delighted to see her and I know she was to see him. We talked pretty much on and off all afternoon and I could have listened to her stories about her Cocoa and Lucky all day long. It was so nice to hear how she got Cocoa, how he was when he was little and over the years, and she told those stories with such pride and joy and love and it was just delightful to listen to them. I really didn't want that afternoon to end, and for me to be that comfortable and relaxed around somebody "new" is huge and means a lot, but she is just one amazing lady, beautiful inside and out. She was delighted to watch Cocoa mingle with the people, enjoy being brushed and petted and being a little bit of a brat as he kept trying to empty out the brush bucket over and over again. Even though Cocoa can be an assertive donkey, who knows how to get the attention he wants, he is such a gentle giant and I really enjoyed having him on the visitor side.
Throughout the afternoon we had a few discussions about the DSC in general, the changes that happened, the changes to come and the current happenings on the farm, and I am sure we will continue these discussions in emails and messages, there is just so much to talk about and so much to share and the end result is always what is best for the donkeys and the love of these amazing animals. I am so looking forward to continuing our friendship and well from my point I can say that I will treasure this friend tremendously and I am just overjoyed to have had the chance to meet her in person and recognize the wonderful person that she is.
And I like to think that like minded people are generally alike and generous and loving and caring and giving, well as far as I have experienced it anyway, and it was so touching and sweet of her to give me a gift of her love as I was giving her a gift of her love too. Well my morning coffee will definitely taste better from now on with Cocoa and her kind and loving spirit in mind. Thank you so much! I love it and it was very nice and thoughtful of you!
Well after four o'clock it was time to say good-bye, as we walked up to the parking lot, exchanged a few more hugs and then it was time to go with the promise of " see you next year" . I was so glad she was able to make the long trip up the Guelph and am looking forward to next spring.
Hopefully she had another beautiful day with Cocoa on Monday and the good-bye wasn't too hard...but who am I kidding here ...I know it was and she knew that too.
3 comments:
What a heart warming post, Tina! A very special day!
What a great story and a really neat donkey mom!
So lovely....wish I was near to place like that. xxx
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