burial Archives - Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

This weekend, we will lay Jody to rest at the sanctuary, her home for the last fifteen years. Now, she will forever be with her chimpanzee family (Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Missy, and Negra). It brings us humans great comfort to know she will be physically here with us, even though she is gone. If you missed J.B.’s blog post about Jody’s departure, I will link it here.

The memory of Jody is everywhere.

When I pass by Front Rooms 2 and 3, I am reminded of her naps in those rooms. Sometimes, she would graciously get up and gather her blankets, as she knew we were hoping to clean the front rooms next. When I serve cherry tomatoes to her group, I am reminded of how Jody popped each one with her front teeth and then ate it. Sometimes, the juice would squirt in various directions and it made me laugh every time. When I look at Young’s Hill, I am reminded of seeing her foraging with her group, collecting all types of foods. She would do this certain walk that only Jody could do, when she was exceptionally proud of herself. When I look at lilacs, I see Jody. Since Jody has been gone, I’ve noticed myself taking in my surroundings more, looking for the beauty in things around me. I know that may sound bizarre that it took Jody’s death to make me do this, but when I see something extra beautiful, like a beautiful tree in full bloom, I think to myself, “Jody would love that”.

Today, some beautiful edible flowers that Kelsi ordered arrived and we knew we had to spread them out for Jody’s family. Nobody loved flowers as much as Jody. We spread out the flowers in the Greenhouse, as well as filled the pools with diluted Gatorade and floating orchids.