When we adopted Tortolina over a year ago I wasn’t thinking about the long term commitment. She will outlive me! (Did you know leopard tortoises can live until they’re 50?!) And she can get as big as those tortoises at the zoo! She was just a cute little creature who fit on the palm of my hand and now she fits on my whole hand. We’ve had to invest in some renovations recently because she has outgrown her indoor and outdoor homes, which means I’ve been on the hunt at thrift stores for the needed upgrades. She is as sweet as can be and I enjoy her but wonder about life down the road and also future road trips. The grandkids love it when she visits now but later? She is the only reptile I would ever have as a pet since I can’t do snakes or iguanas (my son Corey had one named Elvis who couldn’t sing but was a holy terror…that didn’t last long!). I don’t know why I am writing this except to say it is very ironic that the long term commitment to a tortoise is by far longer than a spouse (going on 33 years and hoping for 50!), children (on average they live with you maybe 20 years), cats, or dogs!
Somehow, when I look in her eyes, I feel peace and hope. Her slow gait reminds me to slow down too. She’s not boring at all, she’s my silent friend who doesn’t talk my ear off with incessant chatter but she does knock her shell against the glass if I am late feeding her. Hey, it works, everybody needs a way to protest when things aren’t right, don’t they? She reminds me that she’s there and I need to do my part. I don’t know what the future holds but I have hope! Hope for Tortolina’s solitary life, hope for my family, hope for my life and yours. I am old enough to remember this song, do you?
“When I was just a little girl I asked my mother, what will I be? Will I be pretty, Will I be rich? Here’s what she said to me…Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be, the future’s not ours to see; que sera sera, what will be, will be.
When I grew up and fell in love I asked my sweetheart, what lies ahead? Will we have rainbows day after day? Here’s what my sweetheart said…Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be, the future’s not ours to see; que sera sera, what will be, will be.
Now I have children of my own, they ask their mother, what will be? Will I be handsome? Will I be rich? I tell them tenderly…Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, the future’s not ours to see; que sera, que sera, what will be, will be.” Doris Day
Snippets and Snatches 