Losing a Friend

AnaSofia is our little caretaker. We have noticed when she is off, we all feel off. She is nurturing, loving and always pulling us through. I hope she knows it is not her job to keep us happy, I am trying to teach her that each day. I am continually wowed by her devotion and commitment to others (including her stuffed animals). The chickens receive a fair bit of her mothering, she knows their names, carefully feeds snacks so each lady receives a morsel and listens to their different calls to decipher if someone is in danger. The other day she taught me how to tell the chickens apart. Her two favorites are Little Red Riding Hood (our only RI Red, so Mama knows and loves her too) and Pony Bow Pipsqueak (who has a sister named Henny Penny). She informed me PBP has a shorter comb in comparison to Henny Penny and that PBP's eyes are "kind of funny, like this (squinting a little)." I laughed, as grown ups sometimes too because I could not see it and could not believe that she could tell the chickens apart by their eye shape. But now? Well now, I swallow my words as we grown ups often should, that wise little one is exactly right! I see PBP's eyes squinting up at me asking for a piece of bread while Henny Penny's round eye blinks innocently nearby. Oh. Wow. Well, hello girls.
Another special friend of AnaSofia's is cricket, you might remember cricket from last year's posts. He is a loved friend of hers and kept with care. He died today and my little one was filled with remorse but determined to do something special for her friend. And she did...

Rest in peace little fella. Thank you for all the teachings you brought to us.