 | It is no secret that RJ loves his chickens and ducks. Ever since he took over their care this past summer he has been totally invested. He has done a great job keeping track of them, feeding them, collecting their eggs, and cleaning out their coop. |
This past Saturday, while out in the woods, RJ found one of his chickens had been killed. His buddy, Clayton, ran into the house to let us know that there was a dead chicken and that RJ was waiting for us to come out. I When we got to him, I figured that RJ would be sobbing next to his dead chicken, but he was fine. He wanted to hang the bird up in a tree, so that we could figure out what killed it. He thought that the predator might come back in the middle of the night.
Fast forward to Sunday evening when it was time for the animals to be fed and put away. RJ came back into the house with the news that one of the ducks was missing. We told him that we would go out again later to check. My poor boy sat on the couch with me, tears streaming down his face, and worry in his eyes.
I mentioned that sometimes when animals know that they are going to die they go off on their own. Maybe this duck knew it was his time. It is hard to lose an animal, but if we did not lose the older birds we would never get to have chicks and ducklings. We talked about how ducks do not live very long and how his ducks have had such a wonderful life. I know that none of these things made his heart hurt less, but hopefully it ease some of the pain.
We talked about how loving something hard makes losing it so much more difficult, but that it would not be worth it if we did not love with all of our might.
(Still no duck.)
Love hard, friends.
Fast forward to Sunday evening when it was time for the animals to be fed and put away. RJ came back into the house with the news that one of the ducks was missing. We told him that we would go out again later to check. My poor boy sat on the couch with me, tears streaming down his face, and worry in his eyes.
I mentioned that sometimes when animals know that they are going to die they go off on their own. Maybe this duck knew it was his time. It is hard to lose an animal, but if we did not lose the older birds we would never get to have chicks and ducklings. We talked about how ducks do not live very long and how his ducks have had such a wonderful life. I know that none of these things made his heart hurt less, but hopefully it ease some of the pain.
We talked about how loving something hard makes losing it so much more difficult, but that it would not be worth it if we did not love with all of our might.
(Still no duck.)
Love hard, friends.
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