Shed a tear for the loss of a friend.

gaymen2
2 days ago
3 min read

An old friend's final moments, honored with love and companionship.

The 45-year-old chimpanzee had stopped eating. He was refusing all comfort, and the vets said it was "his time." But his keeper wasn't ready to let him go alone.Anna, a senior primate keeper, had known "Copa" for 15 years.

He was the sanctuary's oldest resident, a 45-year-old chimp rescued from a bankrupt roadside zoo where he'd lived his life in a small, concrete cage.He was always nervous, always wary of new people. Anna was the only one he ever truly trusted.

But in the last month, Copa's health had plummeted. His old body was shutting down. For the last 48 hours, he hadn't eaten. He wouldn't even take water from the staff. He just sat in the corner of the habitat, facing the wall.

The vet team said it was time. There was nothing more they could do, and he was clearly in discomfort.Anna couldn't bear it. She couldn't let him die thinking he was alone in a cage again.

She grabbed a soft comb—an interaction he'd always loved—and did something she wasn't supposed to do. She entered the enclosure and sat on the ground, pulling his frail, thin body into her lap.

He was so light. He let out a long, tired sigh and leaned his head against her. For the first time in two days, his body relaxed.

Anna, her own voice thick with tears, started to gently comb the thin gray hair on his head. "Hey old man," she whispered, her heart breaking. "I've got you. It's okay. I know, I know. You're tired. You're safe now, all right? I'm right here."

He wasn't an exhibit. He was an old friend who was scared, and she was promising to stay with him until the very end.

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I stayed with him until he died in my arms, some decades ago now.

My other friends thought I was mad. His life was coming to an end anyway and I helped by offering support when he took his own life with a medication overdose as he couldn't bare the slow lingerig death prescribed and clearly he was in the first stages of this -and he knew 'Time Is Up' - so took control and ended his own life.

I sat with him, peaceful and quiet. Holding his hand as he drifted into sleep and never to awaken. He was just 63 years of age and the various cancers had ravaged his body

Instantly his house was just a shell full of furniture. No energy. No atmosphere at all, more like a warehouse with furnishings.

I sat for a while and then phoned the company that collected his cadavar and after a private cremation where no one was invited and the funeral company took over,- then the ashes were flown back to California where they were sprinkled from the back of the funeral companies boat that specialized in spreading your ashes into San Francisco Bay.

No one was invited.

No one knew if and when.

It was all pre arranged and private as he wanted no fuss - and more importantly - NO FAMILY.

His own doctor had met me and knew what we had planned, that I would be there - and he gave us the meds, told us what to do with them, and than stated -

'I think what you are doing for Bill is the kindest and most thoughtful thing a friend could offer another person, and I truly admire you for the depth of your friendship in being there with Bill at this time.'

I thanked him and reminded him that this was not a time to be alone - and that I considerd it to be my privilidge.

The doctor knew we were good friends but he didn't know Bill was originally a client of mine and that we had become friends - and many would consider it odd that ' a hooker' was the one he chose to be with at the end and not a family member and that, my friends, is because some peoples families are shite - while friendship between a client and a sex worler can be emotioanally charged with friendship, love and respect and he cared more for me being there than any of his family. They were banned. He was a difficult man - he had no friends and yet - I always liked him and understood him and we were close. His memory means a lot to me.

That was many years ago now and no one should die alone.

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