It is always hard when any baby leaves us. It is also hard to get old. We never know exactly what to expect or how it is going to go. That�s why I often don�t post about the actual parrot rescues we do. It�s not my place to shame anyone just for getting old, not being able to keep up, or realizing they can�t handle it and seeking help.


I�ve always believed that you can help more animals if you treat people with kindness and respect. Blasting their shortcomings all over the internet has never felt like the right way to do things. People are less likely to seek help if everyone who does is degraded. I�ve always felt the right approach is to offer support and understanding. After all, won�t we all get old if we are lucky? Couldn�t that be any one of us in the future? We just don�t know how we are going to age, so it�s best to simply be kind, help where we can, and offer resources when we can�t.


This reflection has nothing to do with this post, other than the fact that I saw another rescue say some pretty mean things about someone who surrendered their bird recently. I almost said something, but then I remembered�I don�t do drama, and I probably wouldn�t have phrased it nicely. So I kept my mouth shut.


A Promise Kept
These birds came from a couple who are getting older. They were still well taken care of, but they knew their time was approaching. Unfortunately, one of them was already struggling mentally and the other physically. They just weren�t young whippersnappers in their 70s anymore.


These birds were well loved�you can tell. They had been in the same family their entire lives, which is so rare these days. Twenty-five years in the same home with the same family. That�s the kind of commitment and love we love to see. At the same time, we hate to have to see anyone give up their birds that they love so much. We feel blessed when they choose us to take over for them or to help find their babies a new home.



Many years ago, we took some other birds from this couple during another major life-changing event. During that rescue, Tara and I met these birds and interacted with them. The couple wasn�t ready to see them go then, and they were confident they could make it work a while longer. So we made a promise that if things ever changed, we would be there to help.


We took on a few sun conures back then to help with some of the noise, which had been a major issue during one of their recoveries. Several years passed, and we got the call again�this time about the others. We are always at full capacity, but Iago had just passed, and we had adopted out a few birds here and there, so there was some room. A promise is a promise, after all, so we agreed to help.


When I let the woman know that the conures were still with us, she was delighted. She said something to me that truly stuck:


�I knew I made the right decision from the first time we talked, and I�ve never doubted it once.�


It may not sound like much, but to me, it means the world. Not only did it affirm that I was doing the right thing with my life, but it also meant these folks had peace of mind. That�s huge. So many people worry constantly about what will happen to their birds or how they will be treated. To give someone the knowledge and confidence to be at peace with such a difficult decision�it made my heart full that we could provide that for them.


One day, it could be any one of us having to trust someone to find homes for our babies. Nobody can stop the sands of time; those grains keep falling day after day, whether we want them to or not. When you make a promise like this�when someone entrusts you with such a great responsibility�you better take it seriously. And I do. I treat promises like these as if they are the most important promises ever made. Because maybe, just maybe, they are.


Since these birds have lived together their entire lives, we will do our very best to keep them together. That likely means they will all stay with us, which is what the couple wanted. Right now, they are all in the same room, right next to one another. They feel safe and already seem totally comfortable with us. We were told they don�t take to new people all that well, but I think somehow, they just know. They just always seem to know.



Maybe we just subconsciously radiate we love parrots energy on a subliminal level. I�m not sure. But it�s probably a combination of confidence, understanding, treats, singing, and some standard, run-of-the-mill grey parrot sound effects back and forth with one another. They just know.


The Pages of Our Story


It�s hard losing any animal or family member, but isn�t it easier to grieve when we realize that with every loss, we create space to help another soul in need? With death comes life and rebirth, and sometimes I just need that reminder. When you work with birds, there are always signs sent your way by a higher power guiding you. We just have to slow down, focus, and take them in.


Sitting down to write this, I didn�t realize how everything connected until I saw the words come together. That�s often my story�I don�t focus well in the moment, but writing helps me slow down and process things I hadn�t yet put into words. Putting pen to paper�or finger to keys�gives me a chance to clear my mind. If I don�t write, I feel like a capped bottle boiling on the stove, about to explode. Sometimes, I just need to take the cap off, let the steam escape, and write.


I hope I�m not too annoying when I do so. I don�t write for validation, nor do I care if anyone reads it. But the wisest people I knew, before they passed, told me they enjoyed my words. They said my writing helped them. They told me I should share my perspective with the world. And despite being a private person�despite not being all that outgoing�I sucked it up and started to write. That was over ten years ago now.


Some of you have been with me from the beginning. Some of us have become good friends. I always look forward to our conversations when we get the chance. I hope that both my longtime readers and the new ones find something in my words. I hope I can continue to put emotion down on paper, or screen, if you prefer.


I can�t believe it has been a decade already. It makes me feel ancient saying that. But let�s end on this: I hope we have more decades to share our words and stories. If we get old, we just get old�there will never be any judgment coming from me.


I used to think that people who left this earth early were the lucky ones. But then I think of all the things they missed out on, all the new people they never got to meet, and I realize: I am lucky to still be here. I�ve been kept around for a reason, and I intend to fulfill that purpose the best I can.



Thank you all for reading, and I hope you just keep on aging�day after beautiful day. I don�t think I could ever check out early now, because I�m too excited to see what comes next. I don�t want to miss a single page of my own story. It�s a page-turner I don�t want to put down, and I hope each of you feel the same way about yours.


If not, maybe this helps.


Enjoy your Monday, everyone. How lucky we are to wake up and see a brand-new week begin.


03/09/25

So with all of that we welcome these two beautiful ladies & two beautiful gentleman into our lives.

Read more about coping with loss when it comes to animals here…