I met her about two months ago. I saw her out in the pasture sporting a little pink coat with a red bandage on her hoof. I was told in her earlier days she gave every one a run for there money, she was feisty and cheeky. I knew her as frail, weathered by time and now needing to be protected .
She didn't like her head to be touched and would shake her head in disgust if you touched her horns. She did tolerate her neck to be stroked and us getting that pink coat on her every morning on those cold and wet winter days.
On one of my days off she was found down in the pasture and the vet rushed out , this was the day she also became our "shop goat" at work. And she bounced back as much as she was able and i took her out to her old stomping grounds early in the morning before the others were out. On sunny days i would put a little leash on her and lead her to the garden. She would on good days follow me back to the shop without a lead . A little goat in a pink coat looking up at me with wide eyed wonder.
In the short time we would have together she would be served fresh hay ,cookies and my lunch sandwiches. In fact the table in front of her little yard in the shop had a smorgasbord of crackers, fancy salads , peanuts and cheerio's. Oatmeal cookies were her favorite for many many days. The table also had syringes and various strengthes of pain killers. Every morning before i left for work i would look in my cupboards and then scour my feed shed outside for things Edith might eat today as we struggled to keep her eating and to save the little weight she did have on her.
I did have a talk with Edith and told her that she needed to try and eat or we would think she was ready to go. That if she didn't want to be here any more to know that she would be helped to leave this world so she didn't suffer. That when she opened her eyes on the other side she would rise in green pasture's . She would have no pain , it would be like a warm rush and she would fly.
Yesterday she could fight no longer ... no matter how hard we tried we could not give her back the years gone by before i knew her.
I am sorry Edith we didn't get to spend more time together. I miss you and I want to thank you for being the very first goat in my life that i would love. .
5 comments:
Lovely story. Thank you for sharing.
beautifully written janice...and you made her last days beautiful too.
Oh I AM so very sorry. When my children were young we had a white goat named Ethel. On hot evenings we would load all the kids into the station wagon to go for ice cream. My kids never wanted anything more than a small vanilla cone so small vanilla cones it was. "4 to go please!" Over time,on Friday nights people began to gather. The kids would climb out of the car to wait at the picnic table, along with Ethel. She was always polite because the kids would make sure Ethel had hers first. After she had thoroughly finished hers, she would sit down and wait until we were all ready, wait to have her face dabbed by her napkin, and then we would all get back in the car to go home. I sometimes miss the innocent days like that when just a trip to the ice cream shop was an event. Ethel is at Rainbow Bridge now along with many other "pets" that each and every one has (in their own way) has touched my heart and will be there always. Please don't think of Edith as gone. She will always be with you. If only a thought, glimpse, a trigger of a slight memory. She is there. I am sure that she is very very thankful she found YOU if only for a little while. Maybe in your next prayer ask Edith to look for the little white goat named Ethel that loves ice cream. I know she's there.
so sorry Jan, we animal rescuers have to deal with so many deaths of beloved creatures but it gets no easier does it. I wonder if you have also had people say to you that they are not hard enough to do our work.IThat always upsets me. How can we ever become hard?
Thinking of you and wondering how you are coping with winter? We have been lucky so far,only one day of snow though other ports of Uk badly hit. I am just thankful we have escaped it so far.
lots of love and so glad Edith had you i to care for her in her final days,
lesleyxx
Bye Edith...thank you Janice for caring for her.
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