Happy Birthday, to our January celebrating friends! And Happy New Year, all! If you’re not still wearing them, you better dig out your party pants for this month!
It seems apropos that we burst into each new year by celebrating Burrito! Our beloved chimp guy with (at least) nine lives and full of ever-increasing energizer-bunny-energy of epic proportions, is turning 40 on January 6th!
Because of you all being part of some miraculous fate we’re profoundly grateful for, overcoming adversity in life and coming out the other side (again and again) full of even more wild joy and well-being seems to be Burrito’s superpower. Seeing the love that has ensconced Burrito through all his ups and downs has been nothing short of awe-inspiring and I believe all our hearts have been given the sheer gift and fortune of being buoyed along in his effervescent wake.
Such sentiments often sound trite, but I believe Burrito reminds us it’s always possible (even when it might feel as though it’s not) to find something to celebrate, no matter how small. We can’t wait for his special day. And we all better start stretching…
A Bubbie blur…
Then, on January 29th, we get to celebrate dear, beautiful, regal, Rayne, who will be turning 33!
This will be Rayne’s second birthday since calling the sanctuary her home and we’re so honored to celebrate the special individual she is. The privilege of getting to know Rayne and her group more each day, learning from them, and trusting in their strength, resiliency, wisdom, and capacity for joy, is a gift to us all.
Look at this glorious woman!
Rayne and Willy B:
As Sofia (and Dora!) marveled over yesterday, it’s incredible all that YOU have made possible in the chimpanzees’ and bovines’ lives in the last year. I mean, truly.
Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest will be celebrating our 15th anniversary this summer, can you believe it?! If you ever pause to wonder why and what if this or what if that, as we humans are all wont to do at various times in our lives, please just shift your gaze for a moment into the faces and lives of the 20 incredible individuals who call the sanctuary their home and remind yourself what you have been, and are, an invaluable part of creating. We’re immensely honored and grateful to you for being here and we can’t wait to walk through this next year and all those forward, together.
May your birthdays and year ahead mirror back to you all your hearts have so graciously shared. Happy Birthday, human friends, and Happy New Year!
