Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres grew up idolizing Dian Fossey.
She pored through National Geographic magazines featuring the celebrated primatologist’s work with gorillas in Rwanda. She tore through her famous book Gorillas in the Mist. She mourned in 1985 when Fossey was murdered in her cabin.
Now, as DeGeneres turns 60, her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, surprised her with the most wonderful present.
The building of the Ellen DeGeneres Center of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund focused on education, research and tourism initiatives. De Rossi also set up the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund.
The scope of the presents left the normally irreverent host temporarily speechless.
“When we got married, Portia’s line was, ‘It’s good to be loved. It’s profound to be understood. And she understands me,” DeGeneres said during her show. “Because that is the best gift anybody could have given me.”
Portia has given me the greatest gift I’ve ever been given. https://t.co/KzllU43mkI pic.twitter.com/9qFo9Pm2QU
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) February 1, 2018
The show as filmed last week, but only aired Feb. 1.
Grab the tissues.
The folks who are continuing Fossey’s legacy are over the moon.
We’re still spinning with joy from today’s amazing birthday gift from @portiaderossi & #EllenDeGeneres. Portia’s 60th-birthday present to her wife will help build a permanent, state-of-the-art home for the scientists advancing work begun by our founder Dian Fossey. @TheEllenShow pic.twitter.com/M0rcWh2IXH
— Fossey Gorilla Fund (@SavingGorillas) February 1, 2018
There are perhaps 880 mountain gorillas left in the world.
Threatened by habitat destruction and poaching, the species is critically endangered.
“It’s impossible to overstate what this news means for us,” Tara Stoinski, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “We have continued Dian’s legacy for 50 years, and this new campus will serve as a brilliant focal point for our efforts protect wild gorillas over the next decades.”
We haven’t stopped crying tears of joy all day! We are incredibly grateful for this gift and so excited for what the future holds. #thanksellen #ellensavesgorillas
— Fossey Gorilla Fund (@SavingGorillas) February 1, 2018
A pay-it-forward gift like no other.
Such great news for #Rwanda and #conservation. @theellenshow through her organization, The Ellen DeGeneres wildlife fund will be building a permanent home for the #DianFossey Gorilla fund. https://t.co/lfB9IECasU#RwoT #SilverbackGorillas #MeetInRemarkableRwanda pic.twitter.com/X97wmUBvod
— Rw Convention Bureau (@RCBrwanda) February 1, 2018
And DeGeneres is still almost at a loss for words.
I am proud, humbled, honored and deeply grateful to get to introduce you to my amazing new wildlife fund. “It’s good to be loved. It’s profound to be understood.” Thank you, Portia. https://t.co/KzllU43mkI
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) February 2, 2018
Fossey, no doubt, would be proud.
In her final journal, Fossey wrote: “When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate on the preservation of the future.”
Main photo The Ellen Show/YouTube
