Ruffled Feathers Parrot Sanctuary Inc.
Where Hope Takes Flight
September 11, 2001 changed my life forever – from a Ground Zero firefighter to building a parrot sanctuary, this story is my testament to resilience, service, and transformation. September 11 has always been a hinge-point date, when the world seems to turn at once. History books mark it repeatedly: 1609 when Henry Hudson sailed into New York Harbor, 1941 when Pentagon construction began, 1973 when Chile changed forever, 1990 when President Bush addressed Congress about the Gulf. And then came 2001 – a morning that changed not just a city or country, but the personal paths of millions, mine included.
I arrived at Ground Zero the evening of September 11th, a firefighter running toward the pile, toward the smoke, toward the unknown. For a month I lived among steel and ash, carrying stretchers, moving debris, praying for miracles that grew fewer each day. I was there, feet from President Bush during those pivotal moments, breathing air thick with burning metal and worse.
Then came the truth I didn’t want to face. The cough that wouldn’t go away. The realization that the air I’d breathed to save others was stealing my future as a firefighter. Not six months later, my lungs and body forced me to hang up the uniform. That was the beginning of asking: what now?
The answer came feathered and noisy. Instead of carrying people out of danger, I carried parrots, squirrels, raccoons, and goslings – anything that needed a hand. It was a quieter kind of rescue, but still rescue. Different uniforms, same heart. The skills translated perfectly: emergency response, triage, the ability to stay calm when others panic. When someone calls about an injured bird at midnight, I respond with the same dedication I showed at Ground Zero. This shift from smoke to feathers became my 9/11 firefighter sanctuary journey.
Every year since, our Facebook timeline has become more than memory – it’s the documented journey of transformation. In 2014, I first shared my story publicly: “I have told my story before but as time passes it gets a little easier.” The smell, the memories that surface every September 11th, the weight of being witness and participant simultaneously. By 2015, Magic the parrot appears in photos, “keeping an eye out so daddy can close his eyes for a minute” after what I described as “a hard day.” That same year, Magic offered philosophy: “Only in the darkness can you see the stars,” though he thought he’d invented the quote himself. Even then, the posts mixed solemn remembrance with simple, living joy.
In 2016, patriotic Stormy spread his wings, and I wrote: “Never forget 9-11-2001. Always strive to live each day as if it’s September 12th.” That still feels true – carry the kindness that followed, not just the pain.
September 11, 2017 brought unexpected lightness when I took Kiki to Home Depot, where he completely lost it over a T-Rex display, screaming so loudly that people came running. “Kiki used to be terrified of everything. He has become such a brave boy since he came to live with us.” A firefighter who learned fear at Ground Zero was teaching a scared bird courage. The parallel wasn’t lost on anyone.
By 2018, Ray politely greeted strangers in Lowe’s while Tara shared molting feathers like they were little miracles. Life in feathers marched on, even when the calendar weighed heavy.
In 2019, exhaustion crept in: “Can someone help me? Somebody called and said there was an injured squirrel in a box today. I wasn’t really up to it but…” This is the reality of a first responder who never really stops responding, just changes what he’s responding to. I went anyway, because service doesn’t always wait for you to be ready. Sometimes you pick up the box first, and your heart catches up
Every year on this date, our flock insists on being themselves. Magic quotes Dr. King, while Pepper demands grapes and Margaret declares pomegranate the new wallpaper trend. Friends pile into the comments like candles lit in a window. It all matters because the point of remembering isn’t just replaying the pain – it’s recognizing what grew out of it.
What emerges from these years of September 11th posts isn’t just grief or remembrance – it’s transformation. The sanctuary itself stands as testament to a firefighter’s need to keep saving lives, even when his body said he couldn’t do it the same way anymore. Every rescued bird, every September 11th post mixing grief with pictures of ridiculous parrots, writes another line in this ongoing story of service.
History books will always mark September 11 with global events: Hudson’s ship, the Pentagon’s foundations, Chile’s coup, the towers falling. But our own scroll is just as real: Ray saying hello to strangers, Kiki saving us from dinosaurs, Tara laughing through the mess, a squirrel in a box waiting for someone who wasn’t really up to it but came anyway.
Together, those stories say: yes, we remember the smoke and sirens. But we also remember the feathers and laughter, because they’re what keep us moving forward.
I’ll never forget arriving at Ground Zero that night, the pile still burning, the silence heavy. But I also won’t forget what came after – how illness took firefighting from me, but how parrots, raccoons, and a sanctuary full of chaos gave me back a reason to keep serving.
The body that Ground Zero broke found new purpose. The firefighter became a different kind of first responder. He traded ladder trucks for bird cages but kept the same drive: if something needs saving, you save it. That is the heart of my September 11 Ground Zero firefighter to parrot sanctuary story.
So here’s to September 11: to those we lost, to those who ran in, and to the small, feathered reminders that life keeps singing. The lesson of this date is that resilience comes in many forms – sometimes in steel and sacrifice, sometimes in squawks and laughter. Service doesn’t end when your body fails you; it evolves.
Never forget. Always remember why. And always carry forward – even if it’s just a scared squirrel in a box, because that’s what first responders do.
– Brad
Ruffled Feathers Parrot Sanctuary Inc.
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