Part 3: Zoo Life is Wild

Summary:
In this section of We Bought A Zoo, the characters get a real taste of zoo life/ challenges. On top of the stressful world of owning such a big responsibility, Katherine's brain tumors continues to get worst. Benjamin is first challenged with an escape of a big cat on the grounds. As Benjamin carries out his normal daily routine of endless phone calls, he finds out about this extremely dangerous situation and rushes to see what he can do. He finds out the cat has gone into a different enclosure which could cause harm to the other animals so they have to act quick. They decide to try to move the animals into separate smaller cages in the enclosure but one of the cages is broken. They rush to fix it but the cat is smart, he doesn't want to go into the small and dark cage. Benjamin is forced to stay up all night and check on the cat to make sure he doesn't climb the walls of the unfamiliar structure and escape again. The next morning, the cat is darted and taken back into his own enclosure. 

The weekly tumor appointments for Katherine get worst. They find out the tumors are spreading and realize she is going to pass away. Benjamin does everything he can to find new treatments and save his wife. In the middle of that stress and chaos, another animal has escaped. One of the wolves has ran off into town and Benjamin has to once again, put everything on hold to get this wolf back to the zoo safely and quickly. Fortunately for them, the wolf is on a farm and is easily darted and brought back. 

Now, Benjamin focuses only on spending time with his wife that gets worst daily. She looses her speech and ability to move while Benjamin takes her from doctor to doctor, willing to try any treatment to better his wife. Medicine after medicine fail the bring her back and she eventually passes. This is devastating to the whole family. They have to move on and continue the keep up of the zoo, but always  kept her in their hearts/ minds.

Review:
This section of the book was heartwarming, but also had its scares. I feel like it made the characters really come to life. You could really feel Benjamin's anxiety and sorrow. You could imagine the stress in the extremely challenging situations he faced. If it wasn't a hard decision about an animal, it was about different treatments for his wife. Just when you think its to difficult, Benjamin amazes you again by continuing to work hard and give up everything for his dreams. This book shows me that I can get through my problems if Benjamin can get through his tough challenges and losses. He is such a motivation and I completely enjoy reading his story because it shows me that any dream can be accomplished if you work really hard and stay focused.

Focus: Reflect on the death of Katherine and how it showed specific traits in each family member.
Despite the fact that I personally don't know Katherine, her death was really hard for me because she was an amazing mother and wife. She was so supportive of Benjamin's dreams and helped him as much as she could before things got really tough. She reminded me a lot of my mom because she worked so hard and did things that weren't her responsibility because she just wanted to help everyone. Her heart was so big and it was really sad to see her go through so much pain and eventually pas away. I was really rooting for her to fight through it and live, but the cancer was too strong. 

In Benjamin, Katherine's death showed perseverance, love, and hard work. Even when he knew she wouldn't make it, he tried everything he possibly could do to keep her with him and the children for longer. He spent every second taking care of her and trying to find a method to cure her. His love for her really showed in this section.
In Ella, Katherine's death showed her innocences and child character. She loved her mom so much and it devastated her to hear she died. "As soon as she grasped the enormity of the concept, Ella burst into tears and climbed across the table to me. 'I don't want Mummy to be dead,' she said" (135).

Lastly, in Milo, Katherine's death showed his strength and maturity. He wanted to be strong for the family even though he was torn about the tragic news. "But Milo stayed where he was. I told him it was okay to cry, but he just became very still as he took it into himself, and he said;' I don't want to cry. I want to be strong for you Daddy'"(135).