Let me tell you the story about how I met Jerri.  The first time we met he was a grumpy guy.  I thought he was really cute anyway, and told him so.  This did not improve his mood however, he just glared at me.  Not willing to give up and hoping to see him happy, I asked him if anything was wrong and he quickly replied that, “Everything is wrong”!   There  was no way that I was going to let that pass so I asked him if there was anything that I could do to help.  “Not unless you can make it rain when it is supposed to and not rain when it is not supposed to, and bring back my trees and the peace and quiet”! He said fiercely then dropped his gaze to the ground before continuing his story.  

    “I’m sorry”, he said to me. “It is just that when I first left my forest range because of the noise and all of the people that were now moving around in my range, I went to look for help from the leaders of the people.  I tried to explain my situation, they made promises and I waited.  While I was waiting I discovered that it wasn’t just all of us Jerri’s that are having these issues but all over the world including in the Oceans and rivers the habitats of all were being abused and destroyed.  People just like you were responsible for the strange rains and other weather that disrupts all the patterns.  How can a Jerri like me do anything when even the people responsible for it all seem not to care.  It makes me angry! It also makes me sad.”

    I understand exactly what Jerri was talking about.  I felt just like him.  I do all that I can but the problem seems too big for me.  When I told Jerr I understood, he sighed.  I told Jerri about all of the organizations and people around the world that were working as hard as they could to make things better.  He brightened up a bit at that, just hearing that some people did care about the mess seemed to make him feel a bit better.  Then it occurred to me that he was referring to all Koalas as Jerri, so I asked him why he did that.  His response was simple that all Koalas were Jerri.  That’s when it hit me.  I want to be a Jerri! Someone brave enough to leave my comfort zone to go and do something about what I know needs to be changed.  I want to be someone with the courage to seek those that are willing to help.  Jerri became my hero.  I became Jerri.