With all baby animals with unknown histories, there is always a risk of getting attached to them. In Madeline's case, her incoming prognosis had been pretty bleak indeed. When I first saw her, I was expecting a pathetic little animal that had given up based on what we had heard, but that was never the case with her. While Madeline undoubtedly benefited from the medication that she was provided during her recovery, I have to believe that she benefited from the love she received as well; not just from me, but from everyone who ever met her. With that love in her corner, she became indomitable. The memories of those hours spent with her will never leave me. They served to reaffirm that I had made the right decision in coming here and put any lingering doubts to rest for good.
It has been almost exactly five months since I first met Madeline and I am happy to say that she is doing well with little evidence of her early struggles. Her little horn buds have blossomed into real horns that she unfortunately seems to love sharpening. She loves her strawberries and grapes and gets feisty sometimes if you scratch her butt. When the mood hits her, she likes to rear up and headbutt my hand, but her tail wagging belies her tough girl swagger. She will always be my "baby goat" even as she pulls away and finds that she had more in common with her small herd of Noel and Justin with whom she is spending time before being introduced to the other goats. I will miss both her excited bleats when she sees me and her sad bleats when I have to leave, but it will be a testament to the hard work of the staff when she has this opportunity to grow up (And someday soon she may grow into those ears of hers).
