Katelyn

In honor of Jody

May 13, 2025 by Katelyn

Thank you, Tobin, for sponsoring a day of sanctuary in memory of Jody for her birthday, which we celebrate on Mother’s Day.

*(Some of us are still playing catch-up from having been away to attend the NAPSA conference last week – me, and me -, so apologies for this later than Tobin intended sponsorship. Jody is of course in our hearts every day, especially during this beautiful season and we appreciate all the love surrounding her.)

A message shared from Tobin:

“As we celebrate the day in which the sanctuary celebrated Jody’s birthday, I am at a loss of words to add to what Diana wrote on the CSNW blog on April 27th. Those who lived with Jody at the sanctuary, and the those humans who provided for her needs, were indeed so fortunate to have had her in their lives. Among the comments which readers posted, I especially felt the words of a commenter who wrote, ‘Besides everything, I miss most seeing (Jody’s) interactions with her chimpanzee family and how she took such good care with everyone.’

We do not know for certain the day – let alone the year – when Jody’s mother gave birth to her. In a world unencumbered by the scourge that is human behavior, Jody should have been raised by her mother throughout her life. Unfortunately, much was not to be as it should have been in Jody’s live. One day, though, she and six other chimpanzees arrived at what would be their sanctuary in the Cascade Mountains. There, at last, Jody and her friends were able to live.

And it is those memories of Jody living in abundance on Young’s Hill and in her domicile that I remember – and treasure. It is my hope, therefore, that on this day that we cherish our love and memories of our dear Jody on what would have been – to our best estimate – her 50th birthday.

I love her always, and pray that joy surrounds her soul – her ‘anima’ – forever.”

Annie, Jody, and Negra:

Annie, Jody, Foxie, and Burrito:

Jody, Missy, and Jamie:

The days of May

May 1, 2025 by Katelyn

May is probably the most beautiful time of year at the sanctuary. For a few brief weeks, the world turns neon green under alternating blue and charcoal skies, the surrounding hillsides are awash in yellow balsam root and indigo and violet mountain lupine, it’s finally warming up while not yet the scorching temperatures that come with summer, and the chimpanzees, cows, and humans are once again able to roam outdoors with freedom and ease. It’s like the deepest of breaths.

Rayne:

Missy and Jody:

GiveBIG returns on May 6-7, though it kicked off with early giving on April 22nd (thank you to all who have donated so far!). If you’re unfamiliar with GiveBIG, it’s a statewide campaign for non-profit organizations across Washington state and if you are interested in donating for the chimpanzees and cows, you can find the sanctuary’s page here. With immense thanks to a generous donor, all donations up to $10,000 are being matched!

Mother’s Day is May 11th this year and if you’ve been here awhile, you’ll know it’s a special day of celebration here at the sanctuary. We hope for sun and cool breezes, and we try to fill it with fresh spring flowers and exciting, colorful foods. We get to honor all the sanctuary’s chimpanzee and bovine mothers: Annie, Betsy, Foxie, Honey, Jody, Missy, and Negra. In truth, this day is for each of the chimpanzees and cows, the children they had, and the children they, too, once were in these lives they’ve found themselves in. We get to honor all that exists in the same breath for us all; the unimaginable losses, the unspeakable beauty, and the unexpected families found. The latter of which we have you, especially, to thank for.

Annie:

Betsy (r) and her beloved boy, Nutmeg (who we are always missing):

Foxie and Strawberry Shortcake:

Honey and her daughter, Meredith:

Jody:

Missy:

Missy’s daughter, Honey B, who we’re crazy lucky came to call the sanctuary home in 2019:

Negra:

Mother’s Day is of course also the day we chose as Jody’s honorary birthday. Though we never learned Jody’s actual date of birth, this day was chosen in honor of the nine children she gave birth to while in biomedical research and was never allowed to raise. As the official “den-mother” of her family here, it’s such a fitting day. As many of you are aware, we just passed the second anniversary of Jody’s death. She remains here with us, forever woven into our hearts, our lives, our days, and our celebrations.

Jody’s wildly handsome son, Clay, turns 38 on May 20th! Fortunately for Clay, he has called Save the Chimps in Florida home for many years. Clay’s story is hard to hear. But it’s also one that speaks so clearly to what sanctuary makes possible.

Clay was born to Jody and Mack (also Burrito’s father) at the Coulston Foundation. As noted in Clay’s history on Save the Chimps’s website where you can read more, Clay endured countless particularly egregious research studies until he was rescued by Save the Chimps in 2002, along with 265 other chimpanzees, when the Coulston Foundation was nearing bankruptcy. Clay spent many years living in isolation at Coulston and as you might imagine, he suffered deep trauma as a result of his abuse there, making it very challenging for him to feel comfortable living with other chimpanzees once rescued. But through patience and time, incredibly, Clay recently found a place within a family to call his own.

Clay now spends time on his family’s 3-acre island and continues to build bonds at his own pace with his family members. It requires an immense amount of courage on the parts of Clay and his caregivers to have such an incredible outcome well into his adulthood. I like to imagine that Jody is beyond thrilled for Clay, as are we all, with hope for his promising new future ahead. If you follow STC’s social media, they periodically share videos of him and his new family!

Clay (photo courtesy of Save the Chimps) most certainly has his mother’s beautiful eyes:

Jody:

Thank you for being here, friends! Happy May Day, happy Bealtaine for my Irish kin, happy spring, happy half-way to summer, and of course, happy half-way to Jamieween!! 😉

In memory of Jody, from Tobin

April 30, 2025 by Katelyn

On this second anniversary of our beloved Jody’s death, Tobin has sponsored a day of sanctuary in her memory for which she shared these thoughts:

“At the end of March, a friend and I attended a funeral mass. As we left the church, I told my friend: ‘Most weddings are the same, but every funeral is different.’I elaborated that I had attended some obsequies which, due to the character of the departed, were indeed (as the euphemism has it) ‘Celebrations of life.’ I gave of a friend, born in 1932, who had been diagnosed with leukemia in 1958. Four decades later, she attained her final victory over her ailment. ‘Even in her final months’, I said, ‘when she was almost thin as a skeleton, her inner beauty seemed to illuminate even more.’

On this somber anniversary I am reminded of what I found – and continue to cherish – that so endeared me to Jody. My desk where I reside is graced with several photographs of her. They capture the beauty of her brown eyes, the drooping lower lip of her smile, the pert folds of her ears, the look of her delight as she carries in her forage from Young’s Hill. As Jody cradles a pumpkin in her arms, I can almost hear her joyous dinosaur’s groan.

Pleasing as it is to look at these photographs, they can only begin to intimate what I found even more beautiful about Jody: her heart and soul, her embrace of life in the Cascade Mountains with those she loved: Negra, Annie, Missy, Burrito, Jamie, and her dear friend Foxie, and the human caregivers who provided for her needs and, at last gave her a life worth living.

Once again, I am reminded of how I miss seeing Jody roaming the landscape of Young’s Hill. In the absence of her body, I am – we are – left with the beauty which illuminated from the heart and soul of Jody. And that beauty, the good treasure of her heart by which Jody lived, is a grace beyond gold.”

Jody, Missy, Annie, Burrito, and Foxie: