If anyone knows what it feels like to be left without a mother, it’s Jamie.  Her poetry reflects a longing for the mother who seemed to stop caring years ago, then left Jamie behind wondering what she had done wrong?  Perhaps from this understanding, Jamie has volunteered to do a very selfless thing . . . she is bottle-feeding a little orphaned goat that, in a few weeks will be given to the children at Doss Assessment Center for their petting zoo.  The children who live at Doss have a greater level of emotional disturbance than any of the children on the Ranch’s two campuses; most of them are younger children whose backgrounds range from unbelievable physical abuse that left scars both inside and out, to years of sexual abuse, or neglect that often included near starvation. and deplorable living conditions.  

The staff who work at Doss say the petting zoo, which already has a half grown goat and a little bunny, is helping the children learn how to love and care for living things.  The animal therapy program will transfer to the children’s adult lives as they slowly develop better parenting skills than the ones they have witnessed in their homes of origin.

Jamie calls the little goat she is caring for “Butterfly”, because she has a perfect little white butterfly on her forehead.  And when her charge is strong enough, Jamie will send Butterfly off with a lot of love and a little sadness, too, because she will miss her little friend.  But, like any proud parent, Jamie knows Butterfly has an important purpose to fulfill in this world.