When I was gathering photos the other day for the Share the Chimp Love Video, I came across the photo below of Jamie and gasped out loud.
I think it’s been a few years since I saw this image, but it’s very familiar. It was taken in September of 2008, three months after the chimpanzees arrived to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. J.B. posted it to the blog back then.
It was one of the best photo portraits we had of Jamie, and we even used it for some early postcards that we made.
But looking at it now, it’s just not the Jamie of today.
Her cheeks were hollow and her eyes sunken. Her freckles were more pronounced – maybe because they hadn’t darkened from sun exposure yet. And the look in her eyes just wasn’t the determined, curious Jamie that we now know and love.
Compare that before photo with the one I included in the Share the Chimp Love Video, taken last summer:
Or these that I took this morning of Jamie getting the most out of a new book:
What a stark contrast! Frightening what human beings do to ‘lesser’ beings. I see these transformations in dogs and other animals in my work and while it can be hard on the front end, the end game is glorious. Thank you for your love, professionalism and commitment!
Hard to believe it’s the same girl … Thank you for saving them!
What a difference! The power of love! Thank you to all of the wonderful people that care for these special beings.
Her eyes held such bleakness, but not now!
I hope this book gets Jamie less anxious than the one from Christmas.
Jamie was so pale and her eyes so ‘flat’. One thing I love so much about Jamie is the ever present twinkle-spark in her eyes! But even in that first photo I see a very intelligent person looking back at me. She was in there, she just needed Hope, Love, Home, Sanctuary to bring it all to the surface. Sarah Phillips nailed it — the end game IS Glorious! Jamie is Glorious.
She’s come a long way thanks in part to the healthy environment provided by the Sanctuary, the dedicated hard work of the staff and caregivers, but also to Jamie’s perseverance and willingness to trust once again in her human caregivers.