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Smooth Transitions To Our Tweetie Bird
Apr. 28th, 2013 10:52 pmIn the early morning hours, around 2:00 am today, our beloved lovebird, Tweety, died. He was 19 years old, which is a remarkable age for a lovebird. And he had been suffering with a painful condition for the last 16 months or so. He went into remission in January, and we thought we had solved his issues, but his condition deteriorated again over the last two weeks. Judging by the continuous screaming, he was in unrelenting pain. Only cuddles gave him some temporary relief. And, of course, we could not cuddle him at night. He went quickly, from serious distress to shock to gone in about fifteen minutes. We called the emergency vet, but they were miles away and said they would only euthanize him. So, he died traumatically, but with me holding him close. His little eye looked up and me and finally closed and he went limp.
We feel like we should have done more, had him checked by someone before the burial...or saved him somehow. But he had a long and mostly good life. In the wild, a predator would have killed him the first night he screamed like that. And most pet birds die within five years.
On the Shaman side of things, I believe death is simply a transition. Energy is never lost, but simply moves from the body to another state. The univese is never wasteful with energy. My SO went out for a walk this evening and a baby bird flopped down in front of him on the sidewalk. He called me and asked what to do. And, well, I've "rescued" baby birds before...and been chided by bird experts for ruining the poor bird's life. The upshot is, you shouldn't move baby birds that have a parent nearby. So, I told my SO to look for a parent. Sure enough, there was a cardinal watching.
SO took a photo of the baby with his phone and I searched it. It was a baby cardinal...and fully fledged. So it was right not to pick it up. Just the universe telling us that life goes on. And, as a plus, Cardinal Medicine says..."You should be proud. Not with ego-pride, but because you do a good life-affirming job. You help others." Thanks for that Tweetie Bird. We needed the sign.
We feel like we should have done more, had him checked by someone before the burial...or saved him somehow. But he had a long and mostly good life. In the wild, a predator would have killed him the first night he screamed like that. And most pet birds die within five years.
On the Shaman side of things, I believe death is simply a transition. Energy is never lost, but simply moves from the body to another state. The univese is never wasteful with energy. My SO went out for a walk this evening and a baby bird flopped down in front of him on the sidewalk. He called me and asked what to do. And, well, I've "rescued" baby birds before...and been chided by bird experts for ruining the poor bird's life. The upshot is, you shouldn't move baby birds that have a parent nearby. So, I told my SO to look for a parent. Sure enough, there was a cardinal watching.
SO took a photo of the baby with his phone and I searched it. It was a baby cardinal...and fully fledged. So it was right not to pick it up. Just the universe telling us that life goes on. And, as a plus, Cardinal Medicine says..."You should be proud. Not with ego-pride, but because you do a good life-affirming job. You help others." Thanks for that Tweetie Bird. We needed the sign.