A Small Event with Lifelong Impact

Today’s blog post comes courtesy of one of our visitors, Beirne Konarski, and provides a terrific example of the notion that even small experiences when we are children can have a lifelong impact on the adult we become:

I was about 11 or 12 years old the first time I ever saw a cheetah, at a Big Brothers event north of Los Angeles. The picnic was held at a park and the thing that stood out was a cheetah that a man had brought. I went up to see it and the cheetah licked my hand. It’s tongue was rough, like number 40 sandpaper, but it was real neat having my hand licked. I then got to have the photo taken that appears below, one that I’ve been able to keep through the years, including two times where I moved and could only keep what I could fit in a suitcase.

Years later, after looking at the picture again I got curious and searched for “cheetah” on the Internet. I discovered the CCF and soon became a sponsor. I followed their work and when I found that they accept visitors I put together a trip to Namibia to see the CCF with my fiance. This took a few years but I’m real glad I went. We had a great time seeing cheetahs up close and learning more about the creative work that the CCF is doing.

You never know how an experience will affect your life years later but I’m real glad I got to meet the cheetah when I was a kid.