On Tuesday Braeden put down the brush and gently scratched Lulu on her neck. She stood still, her bottom lip quivering slightly. Someone who didn’t know might not see it, but those little twitches are the sign of a very happy donkey.
Something ineffable passed between Braeden and Lulu in those moments, I could feel it as much as see it.
Then Braeden said that donkeys make good friends. That he didn’t know that about them. But then, like me, before meeting Fanny and Lulu, he’d never known a donkey.
I told him I knew what he meant. You’d expect it from a horse, but who ever even through about donkeys?
How I have come to know and live with donkeys still seems weirdly unlikely and at the same time meant to be.
As if we picked up where we left off in the human-donkey continuum. After all, we’ve lived with each other for thousands of years.
Braeden is a very sensitive and intuitive 16 year old to understand that as he does. Transcending time and getting to the heart of it.
It’s so obvious once you actually pay attention—donkeys are deeply feeling, kind beings.
Glad he had that moment with Lulu!
:)