“ why ” and , of necessity , she has become practiced at sharing the story .
But in that flicker of an instant , I see the way her story connects to all of ours . It ’ s that aspect of life that we all find so unnerving , the way we can think we have matters well in hand and then , in an instant , the ground opens beneath us . She ’ d thought she was solidifying her connection to her property as she , fully in control , renovated the old house of her childhood dreams . But it was when she went down to the pasture , shovel in hand and the unthinkable now her reality , that the bond became indelible . Digging nine final resting places was not part of her plan . The way forward , she realized , was going to have to come from something greater than herself .
“ Our lives aren ’ t defined by what happens to us , but how we choose to handle what we ’ re given ,” she told the TedX audience . “ Was I given a fate ? Or was I given the opportunity to make a difference ?”
Those nine resting places are just a short distance from another interesting feature of the West Place property : Rhode Island Historical Cemetery No . 49 . Graves date to the 1700s , a thing Wendy began to think of in a different way .
“ It ’ s bigger than us ,” Wendy tells me . “ My husband and I say that all the time now . Everything about this property is bigger than us . Those people buried in that historical cemetery — they remind me of that every day . They were here 100 years before the house I live in — a Victorian-era house — went up . One hundred years ! Think about that .” The smile is back , tinged with awe and a shake of the head . “ We ’ re just stewards of this property , and the sanctuary is part of that . Hopefully we ’ re conducting our stewardship in a way that will enable the sanctuary to operate for a very , very long time after we too are gone .”
The passage of time is an essential part of the West Place story . It was at least four years after the fire when Wendy began to work in earnest at establishing West Place Animal Sanctuary . It is now more than thirteen years since it became a nonprofit serving animals rescued from neglect and cruelty . There is a thread that runs through it all , making the notion of stewardship seem exactly the right term . From the time the house was constructed in the early 1800s , it was known in town as “ the Dr . Samuel West place ,” and from that designation , Wendy ’ s sanctuary takes its name . Dr . West ’ s predecessors in title lie in rest within the walls of that small historical cemetery . Wendy ’ s nine pets have been joined in their burial ground by residents of the sanctuary who grew old and passed in the comfort and safety of a home dedicated to their well-being .
My conversation with Wendy Taylor has meandered , not unlike the way old New England roads wind among farmhouses and fields . We bundle up for a quick tour of some of the more unusual features of the property . The wind has not let up , and I raise the hood of my jacket against the rain . Volunteers are at work all around , tending to animals safely out of the weather , and I can ’ t help but think that , if not for a tragedy , none of this would be .
“ What we do for ourselves is gone when we are gone ,” Wendy says , “ but what we do for others remains as our legacy .”
We say our goodbyes and I drive off down the road , the Victorian on the hill receding in my rearview mirror , its windows almost like eyes that watch as I make my way back home through the storm . �
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l FEBRUARY 2021 59