Volunteers Connie, Annie, Lynn and myself finished cleaning the playroom and I was about to let them go enjoy a pumpkin seed forage appetizer before their lunch on Young’s Hill, but had to pause for a minute to watch these two unusual play partners wrestle and laugh. At 40, Negra is the eldest of the Cle Elum Seven but Annie isn’t far behind her. She will be turning 39 in a couple of weeks! As J.B. mentioned on yesterday’s blog about Missy’s 38th birthday, it’s definitely as if the chimps are aging backwards since they arrived at CSNW. I never tire of seeing these old ladies play like kids 🙂
Annie:
Negra:
This was wonderful to see, especially since Negra is usually so docile and quiet. She still has the old spunk in her though! And yes, I love that they are “aging backwards” 🙂 All thanks to all of you!!
IT is amazing to see the expression in Annie’s face, to think how tentative and sort of withdrawn and timid she used to be….wish we could all “age backward” – are we watching real Benjamin Buttons???
Absolutely wonderful.. to see Negra engaged in play wrestle is incredible.
The past year and a half Negra has made many wonderful changes that truly make her happy to be alive. Playing as she does now is wow, it must be so touching for the caregivers to observe, and to see Negra feeling so much better about her life,, CSNW staff and volunteers… truly has given these chimps a wonderful new life, fuelled with extraordinary care, compassion, empathy , hope, love, kindness, and the best of what HUMANITY is capable of ,, its polar opposite of what they’ve come to know , accept, trust, and THRIVE in.