The husband of a friend died yesterday. I only met him briefly and I’ve only known her since last April when she and I worked on a fundraiser together.
I liked her immediately. She is straightforward in that East Coast way. Blunt. To the point. No time for nonsense. It’s a new friendship, one I hope to nurture more deeply.
Her husband had just undergone surgery for cancer. He struggled, fought through the agonizing treatments and surgeries that spanned eight months. She stood with him in his quest to stay alive. I never saw her waiver in that support, but then, I don’t know her that well.
So, here I am writing a memorial to a man I met once.
Dave Kenny was a wildlife veterinarian. He was the head vet at the Denver Zoo and he and his wife, Meg, traveled throughout the world treating wild animals. They had the life, quite honestly, that my alter ego always wanted.
Dave’s friend, Kevin, described him as gentle. Quiet. Understated. He didn’t seek fortune or fame. He sought to use his skills to save animals.
There is something intrinsically special about someone like that. I know what you’re thinking. Felicia, you love animals, so you love people who love animals too.
True.
But I think that those people, the Dave Kennys of the world, don’t get much credit. He didn’t start a dot.com. He didn’t run for office. He didn’t go on the grift. He didn’t build a mansion to sustain his ego.
He saved animals. That sustained his ego.
He became active in conservation and saved animals for not just the present, but the future. He brought his colleagues into the world of conservation, and he helped create sustainable environments in zoos. I know. Everyone hates zoos. But today’s zoos actively promote the interests if wildlife and their habitats. The modern zoo curates the mating of endangered species to keep the gene pool vibrant, with the ever-so wishful thought that the progeny of these animals could someday be released. The modern zoo works to enhance the environment of their collections. No, the enriched activities afforded a polar bear in the zoo will never match the Arctic plunge. But today’s zoo tries damn hard.
There is a story that there is a Rainbow Bridge where our beloved pets go after they die. I’m pretty sure wild animals go there as well and that over that Bridge is an expanse of prairie, jungle, mountains, parks, rivers, oceans, ice floes, and tundra where those creatures go. The skies will be filled with birds and raptors and when it’s time to rain, it will.
And when they get there, they’ll need a friend.
Dave Kenny will be there.
Air. 
Leave a comment