The doe lay uncomfortably in the shade of the trees outside
Dale’s window. The serenity of her creamy tan body, white tail and large languid
brown eyes made her a vision of peace and loveliness which defied the miserable
way she must have felt.
Dale always had a “way” with animals. Many years ago our neighbor’s children
excitedly brought home a baby calico kitten. Dale had given them a visit one
day and late that afternoon I found the kitten at our door step. Dale took her back over to the neighbor. Shortly after his return I opened the front
door and there was that precious little kitten, so tiny she could fit into a
teacup. Dale scooped her up and walked her back to the neighbors. The next morning, once again there was the
calico at our front door. This time the neighbor said that the kitten obviously
wanted to live with Dale so we were given the gift of a tiny purring little
friend that the boys quickly named Calico.
A year later at our small town’s annual summer days faire, a
rodeo was held and tickets were sold to win a pony. I chose to attend a different venue and I
arrived home first afterwards and began setting the table for dinner. The boys came bursting in the door announcing
that Dad won a horse! The sweetest little colt I had ever seen. Buckskin
colored with a cream colored mane and tail, actually more white than cream - kind
of the color of a shooting star. So we
put the two descriptions together..shooting star and buckskin and came up with “Starbuck”
as his name. This was before Starbucks became a world wide coffee franchise. It
fit him and we fell in love with him and he fell in love with Dale. We kept him at a stable that had a large
field that stretched over acres of hills. We would stand and call Starbuck!
Starbuck! and…nothing. Dale would
whistle once and down the hills Starbuck would run with his beautiful mane and
tail flowing in the wind as he would gallop right up to Dale who would always
have an apple in his hand.
Many years later, in the last months of Dale’s life he was
too weak to walk up the stairs to his “man-cave” which we had created out of
the apartment over our garage, so I re-purposed the guest room, taking out the
bed and putting in a desk and a comfortable chair. I was surprised, although Dale didn’t seem to
be, when a beautiful doe walked up to his window and pushed her nose against
the glass, looking at him. They became
instant friends and she appeared daily and would often lay down in the shade of
a tree not more than 10 feet away from Dale.
As he worked at his desk she watched and rested. Her very peacefulness brought comfort to his
pain and grateful tears to my eyes.
But this day she looked as if she was not at ease. I stood at the window and seeing her laying there I realized that her
large belly was moving. She was going to
have a fawn. The night came on and we
were unable to see her. In the morning she was gone. Three or four days passed
without a visit and then there she was! She walked up to the window and then
looked back as if waiting for something…two little bambies joined their
mom.
We were overjoyed and delighted in their daily antics.
Balancing on their long spindly legs and hopping in and out of each other’s way. Pure
delight.
One day Dale spotted a coyote on the bluff at the edge of
our property and took the coyote photos below. That night we heard the coyotes howling at
the full moon until he stepped out onto the deck and whistled. They stopped
instantly. It took so much of his strength to do that.
Dale was getting weaker and weaker and he spent most of his
time now in a chair in the living room, too miserable to even lie down at
night. One solid wall of the living room was a window looking out onto the
bluff and over to the forest beyond. He
watched the sun go down each evening and the days awaken each morning.
One afternoon the doe returned. She was limping, I looked
for her boys, but only one appeared. She
looked up at me with tired and sad eyes and I knew instantly that she had
fought off the coyotes trying to protect her little ones. Only one survived. What a hero! What a
valiant warrior this mother was! I
praised her and prayed for her. I was
fighting my own battle keeping Dale comfortable, changing bandages, and
desperately trying to serve his every need.
Day after day they both fought to live until one day, he was
gone.
The doe continued to heal and her bambi continued to
grow. The white spots disappeared from his coat and when little nubs began to show on his
soft head I knew that he would become a magnificent and healthy buck. The days and months wore on as I showed the
house to one potential buyer after another. A year went by. The doe no longer limped although an ugly, dark scar remained on her thigh. I stood
at the window and watched her as the seasons slowly passed by.
A year and a spring after Dale died, the house sold. Early evening and everything was packed - moving day was set
for the next morning. I stood one last
time at the large window and I was happy to see the doe.
She looked at me and then walked to the edge of the bluff but before she
left she turned her head and caught my eye.
And in that one beautiful moment, in my heart I truly understood her loss and I felt
that she truly understood mine.
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WRITING ASSIGNMENT #28 - CHILDREN
Write at least one descriptive and heart felt paragraph per child. Like it or not...this will be the first chapter they will read in your autobiography...DO NOT LEAVE ANYONE OUT!
Tell about his/her birth,
Why his/her name was chosen,
What he or she was like as a baby,
What he or she means to you..
Relate any tender, humorous, spiritually uplifting, and rewarding experiences.
Be honest, be accurate, let the kind of parent you are show through your writing.
(Any praises or apologies might work here!)
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