It was strangely quiet at home this morning. The heaviness lodged in my chest lightened, though, upon remembering the video I’d seen before bed. Luna was in her element, fully alive and joyfully bounding across snow-covered fields with Bo, her new Great Pyrenees buddy.

We’d tried to harness Luna’s wildness, tame her wolf ancestry, but alas- it was like containing a horse in a two-car garage. We rescued her from a shelter, scared and underweight, hoping to heal her and bring stability to our family after a season of much transition.

But sweet Luna literally outgrew our family- our small rental home (with no fenced yard), our car, our lifestyle… like Clifford the Dog. After long walks, she resisted coming inside. Then, she’d sit by the window, gazing with longing at the outdoors.

Recently, she turned a year old, and like a light switch, we became her “chickens,” her job to protect. Bred to protect livestock, she’d let no one into our territory- repairmen, deliveries, friends coming over for dinner. We looked into training (to the tune of thousands of dollars, with no guarantee). “You’d be fighting her biology,” they said.

So, after days of careful research and hours of phone calls, we found a lovely family with a farm, complete with chickens, donkeys, dogs, and horses. Our meeting was an emotional exchange (and thoughtful- we received lovely farm-fresh eggs and homemade baked goods; they got vet records, chew toys, and dog food), but within hours of Luna arriving at her new home, we pored over the images and videos her new family sent to us– solid evidence that Luna was where she was meant to be: unleashed and free.

It was then I realized, perhaps our family was just a lilypad; a safe place for Luna to land, where she’d been loved and cared for in preparation for her best life.

We miss Luna enormously, but watching her thrive is a beautiful sight. Parenting bears hard lessons: sometimes you must unharness something you love to let it blossom.

May you unleash control and give yourself the space that you need to grow, too.

Love & Light,

–Tracy