A friend of mine -- someone I’ve never met in person, but got used to talking to when I called for blood donation appointments -- sent me a link to a video of a guy whose last day of work involved getting kissed by the lion cubs he’d been caring for.
As I watched it, it brought to mind something I hadn’t thought about in years.
Here’s the video:
And here’s the email I sent her in reply:
Pat, what a sweet way to start my day. Thank you for sharing this. Boy, did it bring back wonderful memories.
When I was in 8th grade, my sister came home from college one weekend with four of her friends, and we all went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, which perches on the side of the mountain above Colorado Springs. It was mid-winter, so there weren't a lot of other visitors. Imagine having a whole zoo to oneself!
At any rate, when we got to the aviary, we spread out looking at the various birds. Suddenly, a baby lion came padding into the center of the room, soon followed by one of the keepers, a rather good-looking young man, or so my sister told me later. I wouldn't have known. All I was interested in was the lion cub.
The keeper told us that the various workers took turns socializing the cub, taking him with them as they worked around the zoo. He'd forgotten, apparently, to latch the door, and the cub took advantage of his lapse.
We ended up sitting in a big circle on the floor of the aviary, the girls listening to stories of zoo work from the fellow, while the cub pranced his way around the circle, making friends with everyone. When he got to me, he stayed, probably because I was the only one truly paying attention to him. I received the kinds of hugs and kisses this video shows. My cub was smaller, younger than the ones here, and the only "video" I have of that event is the one running in my head.
Thank you, Pat, for you inadvertently gave me a delightful gift -- the gift of a marvelous memory!
--Fran
Those little round ears and the scratchy, scratchy tongue still live, and I’m sorry the memory has been buried for so long, but what fun to bring it to light!
BEEattitude for Day #466:
Blessed are those who share delightful experiences, the way we bees tell each other of good nectar sources, for they shall have wonderful memories forever.
_______________________________
The teeny details:
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2 comments:
How wonderful! Just a big kitty cat!
That's what I thought, too. But I imagine I would have had a different impression if the little guy had been six feet long and weighed four times as much as I did. He was cute because he was so little.
Come to think of it, I don't even recall whether it was a he or a she.
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