This story is a big part of how I came to realize my passion for healing the sick.
If you didn’t know, my family has a small homestead. Five years ago, back when we got our first sheep, one of the ewes (female sheep) was pregnant. Eventually she gave birth to four lambs-two ewes and two rams. This was our first ever batch of lambs and they were just the cutest things!
We named the rams Ted and Gus Gus and my sister named one of the ewes Misty. I got the privilege of naming the other ewe lamb. I named her Journey (you might get the play on words of this blog post title now). Little did I know, this lamb would be a big part of my life the next few weeks.
It was about a day before we realized that one of the lambs was sick. It didn’t seem to be getting enough milk because it had so many siblings (aka it was the runt). My dad and I brought it to our house thinking it was the ram, Gus Gus (one ewe and ram had slightly darker wool than the other ewe and ram, so they looked very similar). The lamb was so weak it could barely lift it’s head. We laid the lamb on a towel in the bathroom to see what we could do. I stayed with it while my dad went to go get some supplies and that was when I knew I would never leave this lamb’s side.
It was a little bit of time before…well…the lamb had a little accident. My dad was cleaning things up when he realized this was not Gus Gus. This was Journey.
We bottle fed Journey a few times that day while she laid wrapped up in a towel in my bedroom and it seemed to be helping. Later that day we put her back in the pen with her family, thinking that she would hopefully be okay. It was the next day that we realized we would have to bottle feed this lamb for longer than a day. Journey would have to be bottle raised.
We took her inside again and put her in a little bucket padded with a towel and dog pads. We took care of her the rest of the day at my sibling’s house (where the homestead was). We talked to a friend who was able to tell us what to do for her. He gave us a sort of protein powder we could put in her milk to help her gain strength. Then as the day turned to night and it started getting late, I knew soon I would have to leave Journey. Although our house was only a few blocks away, I didn’t want to leave her. What if she died while we were sleeping? She needed me. I broke down and eventually my parents said we could all stay the night at my siblings house.
That was how it started. Eventually we moved Journey to our house and I took care of her for the next few weeks. I would take her outside and watch her play most of the day and feed her milk. She stayed in my bedroom at night and when we weren’t outside. I would get up in the middle of the night to check on her and sometimes feed her. Slowly she grew strength and I could see her adorable personality come out. She was curious, energetic, and playful. Eventually she gained enough strength to jump out of her little bucket, so we had to set up a baby play pen in my bedroom. Later on we put a short bin full of pine pellets in her pen so we could sort of potty train her. Pine pellets are highly absorbent and have a distinct texture and natural scent, therefore great for potty training animals.
The days and weeks went on. Journey was adorable as ever. I would play and run with her outside. She would chase me when I ran and come when I called. She would nibble on everything-my clothes, wood, my finger. I would snuggle and hold her from time to time and she would lick my face. Over time she grew so strong she was even able to jump out of the baby play pen we had set up. So we ended up having to put her in the bathroom. But Journey grew up too fast. The time came when she no longer had to be bottle fed and we had to put her back in the normal sheep pen with the rest of her family. That was when I knew what it was like to be a mom and watch your baby grow up and no longer need you anymore.
We grew apart as Journey kept getting bigger and bigger. I saw her less and less. Eventually we sold her. I don’t even know if she still remembers me to this day. But I know one thing. I will always remember her and the time we spent together. I loved taking care of her and nursing her back to health. She will always have a special place in my heart and I will forever be grateful for that opportunity I had with her.
She was my little Wilber from Charlotte’s Web.
Journey says hi
