What Continues After Us
Guest Post by: Chandra Blouin, FUNraising Volunteer
Nobody really talks about this.
We talk about fundraising goals. We talk about events, animal sponsorships and the daily needs of keeping a sanctuary running. We talk about kindness, compassion, rescue and care.
But we don’t talk very often about death.
Maybe it feels too heavy. Maybe we are afraid saying it out loud brings it closer. Maybe we don’t want to make people uncomfortable.
Death has been close to me lately. My mom passed away this past year, and being near the end of someone’s life changes something in you. It makes you look at your own life differently. It makes you ask the questions that busy days let you avoid.
What have I contributed?
What have I stood for?
What will continue after I’m gone?
For me, the answer keeps coming back to kindness.
Kindness has always been at the centre of who I am. Sometimes in beautiful ways. Sometimes in ways that made me say yes when I should have said no. Sometimes in ways that made me look for the hurt behind someone else’s bad behaviour, even when I should have protected my own heart a little more.
But I still believe in human kind.
And I want kindness to be part of my legacy.
That’s why I’ve named Kindred Community Farm Sanctuary in my will.
For me, it is one more way to make sure kindness continues after I’m gone.
Kindred is a place where kindness becomes visible. It’s in the animals who are safe because someone cared. It is in the kids who learn compassion by being close to them. It’s in the volunteers who show up in the rain, the donors who give what they can, and the quiet moments of healing that happen all over the farm.
I love the idea that some part of me can keep helping that work continue.
And I keep wondering why we hide these conversations. Why is it so hard to talk about what we hope to leave behind? We all want our lives to mean something. We all want to know that some part of what we loved will carry on.
Maybe talking about death is really another way of talking about what we love.
I have been thinking about creating a small circle of Kindred “willers.” People who have named Kindred in their will, or people who are thinking about it. Not a formal group. Not a campaign. Just a warm place to talk about kindness, legacy, animals, family, generosity and what we hope continues after us.
Maybe we meet for coffee at the farm once in a while. Maybe we talk about the thing nobody seems to talk about. Maybe we find comfort in knowing there are others who feel the same way.
If this is something you have thought about too, I’d love to connect. Maybe there are more of us than we realize.
You can reach me at chandrab@sali.ca.