Our Condolences!

This is a rather sad but a good story to tell. You all know that I like birds. Growing up as a child we had parakeets and a minya bird that talked. My mom left him outside on the porch one very cold night and he didn't survive. My grandmother always had a canary. So, when we were first married I started out with a parakeet. Throughout the years it seemed I always had some kind of bird. Weather it be a canary, finch, cockatiel, amazon, concure, cockatoo, lovebird or a blue and gold Macaw.

This story is about Micayla our second blue and gold macaw. She was given to us by a school friend of Gretchen's about 15 years ago. This friend had inherited this blue and gold from a family member who was old and had been sent to a nursing home. She decided after a few months that a huge bird like Micayla was more then she could care for so called to see if we would like to have it. Now, I never turn a free bird down especially a magnificent one like a macaw. This is what she looked like.

It took a few days for this bird to adjust to our home and by then we knew we had a very friendly family pet. It talked and sang songs. It answered the phone, said spanish phrases, did tricks, loved to eat people food but was so messy. That part I didn't like. She had her favorites. I would say she liked girls the best and Cody was a pretty good friend but she did not like Alvin one bit. Through the years we all pretty much accepted her as part of the family. But, I think we all got rather tired of her too. She came more messy it seemed and when we went on vacation it was very hard to find someone to take care of her. Most people were too scared of her because she was big and if she didn't recognize you she would try to bite you. We had a high school neighbor girl that could manage her pretty well until the last year and she made several frantic calls to California saying she couldn't get her into the cage. The next year we got a bird sitter that was suppose to be good with big birds but she couldn't handle her either.

This started me thinking that we should find Micayla a new home and that is what I did. The bird sitter actually recommended this man that she knew had many large birds. He came to visit Micayla and wanted her. Alvin and I took her and her cage to her new home. I still remember her squawking so loudly when we left her. She did not want to stay there. That was 3 1/2 years ago. I have thought about her many times in those years but glad I didn't have to contend with her mess and her sometime very loud noises.

The guy that has her called me the other day. He wanted me to know that she has ovarian cancer and probably wouldn't live much longer. He said she has had several seizures and strokes and wanted to know if I would like to see her one last time. So, Gretchen and I went to see her. She didn't remember us, or perhaps she did but didn't want to be friendly in case we were going to take her back. She has had a marvelous life with this man. She has the run of the house. He was showing me his other birds on his porch and in about 5 minutes or so Micayla came walking out to us. It seems she spends most of her time on the floor of this bathroom which has her toys and favorite things and just comes and go whenever she pleases. The man has bonded so well with her. He says he can lay on the floor pretending to be asleep and Micayla will move his eyelid open with her beak. Wow - that is a little scary. She used to give us kisses and that was enough. This is what she looks like now. She actually looks very healthy. Her feathers were shinny and pretty and she seemed perfectly normal. Thank goodness we didn't see her bad times. He actually has put a sheet in her cage that was tied on four corners that serves like a bird trampoline to catch her when she falls. I guess she looses her balance and one of her legs gets stiff he said. I didn't want to see her like that. I am glad she looked normal and I was very glad I went to see her. Goodbye Micayla and Sweet Dreams!