Honoring HA! and Community (from spring Goatzette)
Sandorkraut here writing on behalf of the stewards of the sanctuary from late February 2008. I first began writing this communiqué from the hospital room of our dear friend Ha!,who was diagnosed with liver cancer on Beltane and has been grappling with diminishing liver function, side effects of powerful drugs, and pneumonia. Before I got to the end, Ha! had passed, on Sunday February 24, at home, in the company of his primary caregiver, John Wall. “I was at his side when he opened his eyes after days of being shut and knew that he was ready to go,” says John. “Although he could not speak, just seeing his eyes let me know he was OK.” Our community feels the loss of Ha! deeply.
Ha! prepared extensively for his anticipated departure. An important part of that process was selling the Sanctuary his land. We closed on the transaction at the end of November, at which point the sanctuary grew to encompass the 75 adjoining acres we bought from him. Elsewhere in this Goatzette is a list of all you amazing people whose generosity made this possible. The outpouring of support we received for this was incredible. Thank you one and all. We have raised more than $130,000, and as we go to press we are less than $5,000 from raising the remainder of what we owe. (We are still gratefully accepting contributions.)
Another great outpouring of support has been our extended community of friends and neighbors pulling together to support Ha!: taking him to appointments and managing his medical care, covering a morning and evening care shift every day for months, and in his final week 24-hour companionship and care. Although we often felt powerless watching Ha! go through his illness, we all feel affirmed by the support we mustered together for him, and the power of community.
