It is my turn to leave beautiful mother earth and follow the way of our beloved animals that have gone before me and say goodbye to the remaining ones to follow:
My spirit awakens from not a day dream, nor a night dream, but a forever dream to feel the touch of my long awaited love, my earth partner lying next to me in a paradise of enchanted beauty.
We rise hand in hand under a warm sun and see faraway towering snow-covered peaks pushing through motionless clouds to a blue sky above. We hear the murmur of a stream next to us as multi-colored swallows dart every which way above the flow.
Soon scores of wild creatures, big and small, emerge from willows and aspens along the stream bank. We remember seeing their fleeting faces from a distance and now they are here to join us: wolves, coyotes, bears, mountain lions, horned sheep and others with no sense of fear or wildness in this place of peace and unity.
Our newfound companions are excited, paw the ground, turn their heads and begin to lead. We follow as they guide us along a path of the stream. We stop and look down into crystal clear water flowing over beds of unearthed gems of every color. Rays of sunlight bend the surface and catch flashes of fish streaked in pink, gold and iridescent dew drops following in our direction.We climb above the sage and kneel to drink in deep calm pools and see reflections of our ageless faces as fish rise up to greet us exposing their wet velvet backs to be touched.
We climb up further between mountain ranges on both sides covered in virgin forest and enter primeval wilderness. We come to a clearing and below is a crater-filled meadow, carpeted in lush green grass and wild flowers.
We are led down to the edge of this heavenly meadow and take a few steps onto it when we hear from a distance never forgotten animal voices. Can this be? We run as fast as we can toward the symphony of sounds and out of the shadows of giant trees, racing to greet us are all the animals that crossed our paths and touched our hearts on planet earth.
We shout out familiar names and call out to others in the middle of the meadow. We hug, we caress, in tears of joy. We’re together once again with all those spirits that taught us the depths of love, loss, and gave meaning to our lives through their completeness and above all awakened a spiritual connection that this day would come.
We lie down together and feel the melting away of each others’ expressions of perfection into a oneness of a divine spirit alive in this unflawed world.
Ralph Turner, Founder
Precious Life Animal Sanctuary
