Perspective

Yesterday Gerren and discovered an injured fawn along the road.  It was unable to get up and with patches of fur missing from spots looked like it had been attacked by another animal.  I left messages for my veterinarean dad and while we waited for him, we moved slowly and spoke softly around her.   Gerren was interested and thoughtful.  I was attached.  I wanted to honor the life in the deer and held the vision that we could care for it and release it back to it's habitat after healing.

When dad arrived he could tell that a front leg was "shattered" and the fawn would have to be shot.  I have had an enormous shift in perspective in the last few years and, saw the possibility of the fawn being cared for and the life passing peacefully or healing and going back to the forest.

Shooting the animal made perfect sense from dad's perspective that "we've been given dominion over the animals" and that "we need to eliminate it's suffering".  He is a compassionate being and he listened to my point-of-view in that way.  My sharing didn't alter his perspective.

I quickly made peace with what was going to happen.  But what I didn't expect was Gerren's request to "go with papa" when he shot the fawn.

It is not what I would choose for her AND she is her own being.   After a short conversation with dad about her going with him, they walked out the door.

I cried at the many thoughts that crowded my head, "couldn't we do something different?", "how could Gerren want to see what she was about to see?", etc... all the while, knowing that it's the perspective that each of us was holding, that had us act in the way we were.

A few minutes later, Gerren bounded in the door, with smiles and happiness that had me in awe.  She certainly didn't have in her head what I had in mine about the death of the fawn.
And I didn't want her to.  

What I want for her is to flow through life with ease in the face of whatever comes, and today she did just that.

Perspective.