In the USA, wild horses and donkeys are rounded up by helicopter. Some animals are injured or even die. The more fortunate ones find refuge in a private animal sanctuary. There, musician Will Stenberg finds the wild donkey Gage.
I had barely read about the "round-ups" of wild horses and wild donkeys in the USA ordered by the land management authorities, and started researching them, when coincidence, which is unheard of in life, led me to a touching story of friendship and loss. A post on Facebook by musician Will Stenberg from Portland, Oregon, caught my eye. In it, he mourns the loss of Gage, the wild donkey he saw three years ago at the Oregon Donkey Sanctuary and immediately fell in love with.
He tells their story here in a selection of his posts, which he kindly made available to me.
A sad yet beautiful love story for Sunday.
How it began.
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Memories
I love this picture. The boy and girl herds are largely kept separate because of how rowdy and sometimes rough the boys can be. Gage was a notable exception. On this day, and others, I came to the sanctuary to find what was, at the time, virtually the entire girl herd crammed into his little barn with him.
Everyone at Oregon Donkey Sanctuary loved Gage, and I indeed had a special relationship with him. As I have said many times, he was - is - my brother, teacher and friend. But there was a small core group of people who dedicated themselves to helping him learn to trust, of whom I was one. Diane was another. She relates that every time she came to the sanctuary she would get out of her car and exclaim from across the paddock "Hello handsome!" He would perk his ears up in recognition because he knew exactly who "handsome" was. Like me, she also recognized his love of music and sang to him. I get the impression she was a maternal figure in his life. And he was someone's baby once: a wild, free foal cavorting with four good legs across the Utah desert, with his mother for years as baby donkeys are, before he was caught in the round-up and separated from everything he knew. I think with Diane he got to be that baby again. It was a crucial part of his healing.
Epilogue
I was with you in your barn near midnight last night when you finally laid down to rest in my arms and I was with you today during your peaceful exit. My hands were on you, my tears were on you, and I tried to sing your favorite song one last time. I swore to you I would be there when the moment came. I kept faith with you, I think. But I want to ask you, if you can, to keep faith with me. To keep teaching me. To have sitting time with me sometimes. If you can. I would never command you. No one could.
You can also find these pictures and texts, translated by me, on my German website.
Rebecca's Atlantic Expeditions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
