Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
I have a lot of thoughts, but few words. It was a lovely day. Thanks to Katelyn today and staff and volunteers over the last few days who prepared the party in Jody’s honor and in honor of all moms.
This bowl and lilacs were for Jody, placed over her burial site:
For me, almost everything about spring reminds me of Jody.
The lilacs are beginning to bud, and we’ll soon be into May, the month that we celebrate Jody’s birthday and her tender and motherly ways.
We are so lucky to have known her.
We are so lucky she was with us for as long as she was.
We are so lucky we got to be with her as she fully enjoyed her sanctuary life.
We would have celebrated Jody’s 49th birthday today. We miss her so much. And we are overjoyed to be able to continue to provide sanctuary to all of the chimpanzees here, and to give them days like today. Watch the video above to join in their joy.
Today, Mother’s Day, is when we celebrate Jody’s birthday. Though she is no longer physically with us, we held a celebration in her honor for all of the other chimpanzees, and they thoroughly enjoyed the watermelon bowl themed party (photos to follow).
As I was taking photos of Jody’s group during their watermelon bowl forage, I noticed that Missy had gone to the spot where we planted lilac bushes and trees. The spot where Jody is now buried.
It’s very probably that Missy was checking the area to see if she missed some food, but I like to think she was also saying happy birthday to her friend:
Thank you to everyone who have sponsored days and made donations in Jody’s honor and who have sent us amazing heartfelt cards and messages of condolence. I love hearing how people were touched by her life and her death.
Today, we made some changes to Jody’s page on our website to include a donation link to give specifically in memory of Jody for those who wish to do so.
If you scroll to the bottom of Jody’s page, you can see that it is open for comments, so please do feel free to leave a message their about Jody or in her memory. We really appreciate how many people are grieving for her.
Now for those watermelon bowl photos…
Annie:
Foxie:
Jamie:
Burrito:
Dora:
The bovines also had a great day! They were released onto the upper pasture for spring grazing!
It was a beautiful day for a lilac forage.
