Petunia Teaches the Meaning of Joy

Pedro and Petunia came to the sanctuary from a mean farm. Their pen was small and dirty. They didn’t have clean water, healthy meals, or fresh straw for sleeping at night. They didn’t even have shade in the hot summer. Can you imagine how miserable they must have been?

When our dear friend Bridget heard about Pedro and Petunia’s sad situation, she drove straight to the farm and begged the owner to let her take the pigs to a better home. “We just can’t let Pedro and Petunia live in filth. They need good food, clean water, and a space to roam and explore with friends. Please let me take them!”

After much convincing, the farmer finally agreed to let Pedro and Petunia go, and now they are here at our sanctuary. You can recognize Pedro by his cute white feet and Petunia by the little pink heart on her nose. Every night, these lovebirds snuggle together and sleep away the night. They are so adorable!

Here at the sanctuary, we believe that good comes from every bad situation, and Pedro and Petunia are living proof. Here’s a little story to illustrate our point.

It was Christmas Eve, and Pedro and Petunia were relaxing in the barn, as they usually do when the sun goes down. The radio was playing Joy to the World, and the pigs were all tapping their hooves singing along.

Suddenly, Pedro stood up on his short legs and asked Petunia, “What do we know about Joy? I suppose we’ll never know since we have so many awful memories of our past. Those days took away our Joy.”

Petunia smacked her lips and twitched the little heart on her nose while she thought about her answer. Then she replied, “Joy is all around us, Pedro. And it’s also within us. It’s about letting go of our past and forgiving the farmer who was so mean to us. It’s about feeling grateful for what we have. It’s about sharing with others. That’s what Joy means to me.”

The other pigs overheard Petunia and started to gather around her. Stella made her way through the pigs so she could stand directly in front of Petunia while she continued her speech.

Petunia paced a little while she spoke. “We all have stories from our past. But look at us now! We are living in paradise. We have everything we’ve ever wanted - food, love, warmth, friendship - we have it all! And we're living at our forever home, so we don’t ever have to worry about anything EVER again. We are so blessed. My friends, look around you and feel the love. THIS IS JOY." 

The pigs and Lester the rooster all smiled, because they knew Petunia was right. And they also knew why she was born with that little pink heart on her nose.

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Little pink heart on Petunia's nose