Dondi

You never know what kids will fixate on, and the lass’ fascination with an elephant certainly fits in that mold.

We have been frequenters of the Southwick Zoo for a few years now, making multiple pilgrimages a year. It’s nicely done. Set in a rural area and back in the woods, it’s a pleasant walk. They’ve got a good variety of animals as well- big cats, monkeys, parrots, rhinos to name a few. We’ve always enjoyed going there and the kids especially.

It was last year when the lass asked to go take a ride on Dondi. The boy ended up going as well, but he was merely following her lead. She chirped about experience incessantly thereafter and we decided to grab her a little stuffed elephant from the gift shop on the way out. She didn’t get a ride on Dondi every time we stopped by, but she always asked and we always stopped to watch her(the elephant) perform.

This past Spring was the last time the lass would get to see Dondi. I was with her as part of a school trip and I took her for a ride. We even got to speak with Dondi’s caretakers for a bit. Nice people. I told them that Dondi was the lass’ favorite animal and they gave us a picture of the lass and I sitting on her back free of charge. Unbeknownst to us, Dondi would pass away about a month later on July 28.

This passed week, the lass was supposed to bring in 2 things for her share items. She had picked out some items that were basically meaningless to her. I told her the idea is to bring in her favorite things for her friends at school to share and suggested she bring in Dondi and something else. She liked the idea and decided to bring in her other favorite animal- Horton, the elephant. The Wife further suggested that she bring the picture of her and Dondi so the other kids, and her teacher, would know who Dondi was.

When she returned from school that following day, she looked troubled when she got off the bus. I asked how her day was and, paraphrasing, it was OK and that Dondi had died.

Huh?

Apparently, her teacher had informed her that Dondi had passed away. I found this too incredible. Surely a teacher wouldn’t just drop something like that on a student, right? But still, that’s not something she’d just make up. Additionally, the lass didn’t seem overly upset. I would’ve expected a little more emotion upon learning such news. The whole thing just seemed off. So I went to the website to verify and sure enough, it was true.

It was at this point that the lass finally succumbed and broke down. She hadn’t wanted Dondi to die. She wanted to see Dondi again. The Wife took her aside and consoled her for a few minutes. Luckily, kids are resilient to this sort of news and it wasn’t long before we had her focused on her upcoming dance lesson.

We ended up going to the Southwick Zoo yesterday. We’d had tentative plans to go all week, but then hesitated upon learning of Dondi’s death. In the end, we figured it was worth going so if nothing else the lass could say goodbye, or something. We walked the Zoo and Dondi’s former area was our last stop. It was a little sad- there was simply a sign stating “Sorry, no show.” The little hut was closed up, as was the gate where people used to line up to climb on for their ride. We thought there might be some kind of memorial or something slightly more elaborate; such was not the case. Grass was growing in the ring where she use to perform.

The lass asked a few questions, but there were no tears or outbursts. She even wondered when a new elephant would come along. She wanted to know if Dondi was in Heaven with Grandma’s bird and dog. And then she was quiet. So we turned to start our walk back to the car. Time to move on.

Along the way, we passed an area where visitors could ride a camel. The lass wanted to know if she could ride one.