We All Need A Good Friend:

 Sarah was a gentle soul who everyone admired for her easy going and loving lifestyle. One day when we were out in the back yard a doe who hung around often and was used to seeing us without alarm slowly came up to the fence. Sarah and the doe each sniffed each other through the fence. As the relationship grew they would race along the fence together and there was clearly a connection between them. Somehow they communicated with each other. 

Sometimes the doe would be hanging around and clearly watching for Sarah and other times Sarah would be outside and looking for the doe. Over time the two developed quite the bond. This relationship lasted for a few years.  During the winter the deer would leave our area and move down into the meadows where there was easier browse. Come springtime the doe would one day show up again and they would be back together. 

Then Sarah ended up with congestive heart failure. The Rx did not help her and she became so weak she could not get up but she was a trooper for sure. She quickly went down hill and we were forced to say our last goodbye. When the doe would come around she would wait outside the fence looking for Sarah. I finally went out and told her that Sarah had died. 

We had a memorial garden down by the spring which was a beautiful spot and we put a headstone down there with 8 others for Sarah. At least two times I was on the tractor and I saw the doe down there looking down at Sarah's photo on her headstone. I would stop and just watch the doe and she would stand over Sarah's marker just looking down at it. 

Now some people may consider this coincidence but I know it is true - those two had a real bond together. We moved the memorial up by the house because a bear liked to move the headstones. I saw the doe down there numerous times but she slowly stopped coming around apparently realizing that Sarah had passed away. Animals are amazing and i think we all need a friend like the doe. Loyal and respectful and a true friend.