Elephants.

A little known fact on humans (not really): we grieve.  We humans react to the death of our own species; we are concerned about our dead, we show respect and reverence towards our dead.  Unless you're a psychopath or have that crazy personality disorder where you feel no empathy or emotion, all humans are affected by the death of our own.  

Little known fact on Elephants: Besides humans, african elephants are the only mammals that react to the remains of their own species. 

According to one study, "African elephants are reported not only to exhibit unusual behaviours on encountering the bodies of dead con-specifics, becoming highly agitated and investigating them with the trunk and feet, but also to pay considerable attention to the skulls, ivory and associated bones of elephants that are long dead" (McComb). 

Two summers ago I had one of those vividly beautiful dreams that make you want to sleep forever.  I won't go into the details, they're not really pertinent.  But, I woke with my dream still fresh and tangible but there was an added element of elephants that felt like it was critically related to the events and emotions that had occurred in my dream, despite the fact that there was not a single elephant to be found within the contents of the actual dream.  

After this dream I began seeing elephants.  I don't mean I hallucinate elephants, although that could be interesting and probably entertaining, but since then, elephants pop up all over the place: in conversation, books, pictures, posters, jewelry, t-shirts, TV, movies, stuffed animals. . . and the weirdest part is that all these elephants show up in totally random situations in places where I least expect them.  

Now back to my little known fact. Elephants react to the remains of their own species.  

My sister told me this little fact the other day while I was printing off a paper in my dad's office about adolescent development.  It was a random insertion that had nothing to do with what we had previously been chatting about.  

There's something tender about that.  Something human, something emotional.  Something in that statement that mirrors the feeling I had after that dream.  Something about elephants.