A Celebration of Life can flourish into moments you'll never forget. Gordy's was one of those. His death was sudden but his effect on others was far from over. Gordy was not just any, big, bearded man who mucked horse stalls in the Winter and held newborn kittens in the Spring. People gravitated to Gordy because he was honest, because he was humble and because he saw beauty in a purple thistle, a sway-back horse and a wounded field mouse left to die. Many of us cannot dig that deep into ourselves to see 'small treasures' and to share 'small treasures'..so, today, after Gordy died on an operating table, we got to hear the stories of so many men and women who loved to be near him. He was LENNY...LENNY from 'Of Mice and Men'...misunderstood, protected yet 'pure'.
The Celebration was held at the stables Gordy last worked at. There were flowers around the barn but they were not manicured roses with heather bought at a fancy store... the flowers were local, picked off the ranch and put in jars. So appropriate and so very beautiful. I smiled as I walked past them. Simple gesture.
Then there was the fencing. The wooden border circled a gazebo. On the top boards were 'horses'..small horses. Some were galloping, some were posing and others were just 'still', still like Gordy. They were set out for guests to take. Gordy was a giver..he wanted people to be happy so, his father, his only relative, 'Chuck', asked the guests to please take a small token of his son with them. Also, there were pictures and hockey cards, old weathered cowboy hats and shirts he had worn while he spoke to the horses.
Humans were not the only ones invited to this Celebration...there were 'horses' let out to watch the proceedings..the horses he cared for , the horses he rode. One was Pica, an old Police horse who had taken this man on many trail rides up north. Gordy was 'wilderness'. He did the cattle drives, he passed on colourful weeds to his sweethearts and he brushed the old dodgers, the old horses we put out to pasture. One man at this ceremony spoke of how Gordy could win a mean-spirited animal over in a day.
He 'had this way about him'. He was an imposing man to many because he was tall, bearded and BIG like LENNY. People were scared of him, but the animals..they sensed his gentle side. They trusted him and he made friends with the goats, the sheep, the pigs, the 'nervous' chickens and the moodiest of horses.
When I listened to people speak about his trials in life, I was amazed at how he never lost hope. Gordon worried about his aging 'best friend' before heart surgery. He asked his father if someone was mucking out the stalls because the horses would be uncomfortable and 'it was his job'.
He worried about the pigs getting fed and the barn being locked up at night. He worried about all of this just before his chest would be opened for the last time.
So, in this world where we get trapped with money matters, embattle ourselves against people who are negative, walk past old, weathered animals that no-one else tends to...there is 'LENNY', there is GORDY who would pick up a snail and put it out of harms way. There was Gordy who would tell an old horse it was loved before he went home to bed.
Again, we loose a wonderful soul who mattered. And above me during the service two magestic bald eagles circled. They circled with a rich blue sky behind them. It was a perfect farewell to 'the Horse Whisperer'. Simple men like Gordon leave large imprints on those left behind. We should all be so humble and caring, open and loving. Your horses are loved, the animals are fed, the flowers are picked and your energy is with us.
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