Bye, bye Blackie

There are times when I wonder just how much of me is in my children. I see them on a daily basis and see so many differences between them. I, of course, don't self-see very well, so it's hard to tell if what I see in them is, indeed, me.

This afternoon I had the great fortune of seeing myself in Jolee.

I am such a lover of nature and animals and have always just assumed that my children would see that in me...if not emulate my passion. Meka has always been that way...she can't watch movies with animals for fear that they will be mistreated. She would rather go to the barn to be with horses than spend time with her friends. She insists that we cannot get another dog or cat until the ones we have die...it wouldn't be fair to them, she claims. She loves animals.

So back to Jolee...

Her favorite chicken, Blackie, died today. For some strange reason, the fox left her in the chicken pen. I went in to get her and put her outside of the pen so that the fox could come back in her own time and get Blackie. I guess I thought that, if not the fox, something would get her for it's afternoon snack before the kids came home from school. I was wrong.

I told Jolee and Meka what had happened and Jolee immediately wanted to see Blackie. We went out back and she picked Blackie up and put her on a bench to look her over. She touched her gently, stroked her feathers and said soothing words, "oh, Blackie. It's okay. I love you. I miss you, girl!" She then tried to open her eyes and beak...kind of gross, but so "Jolee" with her experiential existence.

We decided to bring Blackie to a place out in the woods for another animal to have. She carried that chicken around for quite sometime and even tried out a few places before she found the "perfect" place for Blackie. She picked some leaves off the ground to make a bed for her, added some behind her head for a pillow and then managed to find a bug to kill and put on her "for her to eat later." And she bent over and kissed Blackie goodbye.

It was beautiful.

If nothing more, I have taught my girls that we are all part of a whole. That we must be good and kind to every living thing...no matter how small.