If you needed a good cry today then look no further, because here’s a heartwarming story about finding comfort in the wake of unthinkable tragedy: When 46-year-old Charles Lishner died unexpectedly, his family was able to take comfort in the fact that his rib cage would be donated to a donkey to wear as a hat.
Beautiful! Charles may be gone, but his death will allow a donkey to look stylish while wearing a hat made of ribs.
Charles’s wife and three young children were devastated when he passed away following a heart attack earlier this month, but out of their grief blossomed hope, as doctors informed them that their loved one’s rib cage had been deemed worthy of being donated to a donkey named Buster Bongo to wear around the barnyard as a hat made of bones. Upon hearing the news, Charles’s family’s tears of sadness turned into tears of joy, because they knew that the rib cage would make a once-hatless donkey feel stylish and important.
“Losing Charles has been so, so hard, but I’m just so happy that a part of him will live on now that surgeons have removed his rib cage and placed it on the head of a big, screaming donkey,” said Charles’s widow Leslie, adding that reminding her children that “Daddy is a donkey’s bone hat now” has greatly helped them come to terms with losing their father. “I know in my heart that my husband isn’t truly gone, because any time I want to see him I can drive down to the barnyard and watch Buster Bongo the donkey flop around in the mud and fuck other donkeys, all while wearing my Charles’s rib cage like a crown. My husband’s rib cage makes Buster Bongo the king of the donkeys, and that makes me so happy.”
Leslie says that she and her kids finally got to meet Buster Bongo for the first time last week, and that meeting the donkey who now wears her husband’s rib cage as a hat was one of the most moving experiences of her life. She says that her children stood in silence, overcome with emotion, as they watched Buster Bongo strut out of the barn proudly wearing Charles’s rib cage on its head while unleashing a powerful stream of urine. “It’s like daddy and the donkey are peeing on the ground together,” her youngest daughter said. Those simple words were enough to bring the whole family a sense of peace, even in the face of unspeakable loss.
Uh, is it dusty in here or something? Because we are definitely tearing up over here!
While Charles’s family will undoubtedly continue mourning his untimely passing for years to come, knowing that his death served a higher purpose is already doing so much to help them process their grief. Now every time they feel sad, they can find solace in the fact that Charles’s death made it possible for Buster Bongo the donkey to wear a fancy hat made of bones as he struts around the barnyard, making a big mess and screaming his lungs out. And to them, that is the most precious gift in the world.
