#AtoZChallenge: Donkeh

I like animals – I always have. Domestic or wild, I have a deep respect for all living things (except for wasps and spiders but that’s for another time).

© 2005 by Diane Weidenbenner

When I first moved to Indiana, on my way to work, I would drive by this beautiful donkey. He was never busy doing too much but he always looked content. I think he belonged to the farm that was nestled next door to his field.

He had soulful eyes and beautiful fur. One day I decided to make friends with this handsome animal so I pulled my car over, went across the road and began talking to him across the field.

Before long, he came over and put his nose through the fence. I don’t know how to tell the age of donkeys but I felt like he was a senior citizen. His whiskers were soft and wiry and he liked his nose scratched. He was personable and gentle. He never tried to bite or be aggressive in any way. I was in love!

What a great reminder that no matter where I was, I could experience something new and peaceful and gentle. To open myself up to new possibilities and exciting new adventures. You see, my husband and I relocated to Indiana from Denver, Colo., after I’d lived in Denver for 42 years. I never even entertained the thought that I might live anywhere else. God opened up a door for me to work with a Christian organization and be able to do new, creative things. I just had to move to a new place, leaving a lifetime of friends and experiences behind. My husband says I was in denial. He would pack box after box while I sat in my home office and continued working at the marketing firm that my business partner, Mercy, and I had, right until the day we were supposed to leave Denver.

I don’t think it became real until the first week I drove to my new job, through a bit of countryside, past this donkey with the comforting spirit and beautiful fur.

I saw the donkey most of the year and then, one day, he was gone. I don’t know what happened to him and I’ve often thought of asking the farmers if they knew. He was one of my first friends in a new place I learned to call home. He was one of the rural blessings that I would experience after my move to Indiana.