He was Supposed to Live Forever

 It was the agreement we made. He was supposed to live forever, or at least as long as I did. But today, February 27, 2023 at 12:30 p.m. I had to let my sweet Nick go to greener pastures. 

He was the best donkey, his presence here on my little farm all Robbie's idea to keep Snickers company. Those who know me well probably remember that I first met Nick the day my son died, that Robbie was supposed to meet me at Turning Pointe Donkey Rescue that day so we could meet Nick together. But Robbie never made it there, and then my world fell apart. 

About a month later, I brought Nick home. He had been terribly abused, nearly starved to death when TPDR's then president found him tied to a post inside a burned out barn in Shipshewana. Physically, he was improved, but emotionally and mentally Nick was still broken, wary, afraid, and cautious. 

Today, I laid in the barn with my ailing fifty plus year old friend saying good-bye. I remembered moments from our thirteen years together. His head in my lap, I reminded him of how he'd shown Snickers who was boss the very first day. I cried with my forehead to his as I recalled the first time he walked to me and wrapped his big beautiful donkey head around me in a hug, trusting me as he hadn't done with another human since he'd been rescued. 

As Cinder and Little Red meandered the barn, I sobbed into the neck of this wonderful, kind, and irreplaceable creature who gifted me with his heart, hoping he understood how much he will always be loved and how much we will miss his presence here. 

Now, Nick is in greener pastures, with directions to give Robbie some good old-fashioned donkey stubbornness before wrapping him in a hug that should have happened thirteen years ago.

My heart is broken in ways I cannot explain, and though I know life will go on, it will never be quite the same with the empty space in the pasture once filled by my sweet, sweet Nick.













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