How Gracie came to bless my life

[Graehstone]

Here is the story as I wrote it all those years ago when Gracie decided that "I" was it.

 

Katrin, my wife, works for an Orchid nursery that does Horticultural/Plant shows throughout the entire United States, be it for a specific Botanical Garden or yearly local get-togethers, so she is gone for a week at a time in some cases and in others she is able to come home on a daily basis.

Well last year she was able to go to New York to do a show in the Rockefeller center and was gone for around 7 days or so. During that time it is up to me to take care of all the critters in as far as feeding them and cleaning cages and just generally being bird Papa to all of them.

It happened that I ran out of certain kind of bird food that my monsters just gobble up like it’s going out of style and had to go to the bird store to get some more. This was perhaps a mistake at the time being, but now with hindsight being better than 20/20 I think it was a blessing.

My personal “dream bird” has always been a Timneh African Grey and at prices ranging from $700 to, in some cases, $1200 per bird this would have been way out of our financial reach seeing as how Katrin is the only one earning any money in the family and due to my ill health I am not able to contribute much other than being the best husband and bird papa I can be.

So there I was at the store, which also has a walk-in room full of all kinds of birds and Parrots that made my heart go pitter patter, getting my bird food. But before I paid I just had to go in there and go “Ohhh, ahhh,” at all the wonderfully beautiful creatures making an unholy ruckus. It was heaven.

Then there in the corner of the room she was, my dream and my sleepless nights, the one that my heart yearned for but could never hope to obtain. As I walked up to her she began to dance around in circles with her wings held slightly away from her body and bobbing her head up and down. Needless to say I melted right there and then.

Unbeknownst to me one of the employees had also entered the room and was watching how we interacted. Before she could tell me to be careful and that she was one of the meaner birds in the store I offered her my hand onto which she promptly stepped up and looking me in the eyes said “Gimme kiss?”

I would be a terrible liar if I said anything other than that tears welled up inside me as she leaned into my chest after having gotten her kiss. The employee was stunned and dumbfounded at what she had witnessed.

Gracie had not been kind to anyone in the entire store since her arrival there. For three months since her original owners had dropped her off just days before Christmas because they were moving and could no longer take her along she was I guess very lonely and in those three months Gracie had not been a nice bird to anyone as she bit everyone that got near and she was transported from cage to play stand with a stick in the hopes someone might buy her as a breeder.

I asked about her background and was told that she was approximately 13 years old and that her price tag was to be $700. Gracie and I spent the next hour together just walking around in circles in the bird room with her tucked up against my chest and snuggling under my chin and voicing the most pitiful mewling sounds and clicks and whistles.

She never said another word the entire time that I was there but it mattered not one whit to me as she was all that I had ever dreamed of in a bird.

One of the hardest things that I have ever had to do in my life was to return her to her play stand and go home leaving her to whatever the fates had in store for her.

Now I am just a simple man of simple means and spend way too much time on this blasted contraption we call a computer and it goes to follow that I am also a member of several bird communities or on-line bird clubs like most of you, seeing as how I already had two cockatiels, a Congo African Grey, a Budgie and a Senegal, most of which are more bonded to my wife than to me.

That has never nor will be a problem for me as I love them all regardless, but Gracie did something to me that I just couldn’t shake.

As I sat there in my car getting ready to go home the dam broke and I wept, maybe it had been building up over time, maybe it was because I so missed my wife or maybe I’m just a big sissy, but my encounter with Gracie had given me the rest.

With heavy heart and tear stained eyes I drove home and gathered all my birds around me and poured every ounce of love and compassion I could still muster onto them. Needless to say, they ate it up and reciprocated in the only way they could and loved me right back.

I guess I am able to put to words just how and what I think in a manner that is easy to read, or so I have been told.

Well, I did just that and sat and wrote about my encounter with Gracie and all that she did to and for me in one of the bird groups that I belong to.

I went to sleep that night and my dreams filled with visions of Grey and Maroon and that oh so very kissable horn colored beak. Usually sleep is not kind to me and I wake daily in pain, but the following morning I wanted nothing more than to stay in that world filled with Grey birds flying all bout me throwing me kisses and letting me know that I too am loved by someone other than my wife.

To the doubters of the world I can honestly say to you that there are Angels that walk amongst us and Miracles do happen in the most unlikely of places and to the most undeserving of us at the most unexpected times in our lives.

All I did was say just a very little prayer when I went to sleep last night, for Gracie, that she find a home that would love her for the end of her days. Little did I know that this prayer would be answered faster than I had ever imagined.

Still partly asleep from tossing and turning all night with visions of little Grey birds flitting about in my dreams I prepared the morning food for all my feathered children and waiting for Katrin to call and tell me about how her day had gone yesterday, when the phone rang.

It wasn’t Katrin.

Our Feathered Friends, the store Gracie was in, was on the other end of the line.

Thinking I had forgotten something there and really still a bit on the groggy side, I didn’t understand the reason for them calling me.

Not 10 seconds later I was wide awake, heart pounding and ready to lose the breakfast that I hadn’t even eaten yet.

Remember those Angels I had mentioned just a minute ago?

One of the members of one of the online groups I belong to had read my post from the previous day and knew of the store of which I had written and called them.

I was to come to the store at my convenience and pick up Gracie.

She had been paid in full in my name.

I was floored and humbled and shamed and in tears, again, Ok so I’m a big sissy, but it took me some time to come to grips with what I had just heard. This couldn’t have been true could it? Even the owner of the store with whom I have had many dealings in the past as it is the only store I frequent had never in all his years heard of such a thing happening.

I have subsequently found out who this person is that had opened their heart and wallet to my family and was asked that they remain anonymous.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to my “Angel” and the only way I know how to even begin to repay this unsurpassed act of kindness and largess is to ensure that my Gracie has a long and glorious life.

You know who you are, and all I can say is a hollow sounding Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You and yours will forever be in my prayers and hold a special place in my heart till the day my God calls me to him. And even then, I shall sit by their side as we reminisce of days gone by and laugh at all the things that happened in our lives, look back and let a wisp of a smile creep across our faces.

It is with the greatest respect and humility that I end this post.

Dreams do come true!

 

... and Gracie has been more than I could ever have imagined a companion bird to be, I am truly blessed.

[lovemyGreys]

{Feel-bad-0002006A}We are all softies here what heart warming stories about Ruby & Gracie,i wasnt logged in when i was reading them but i had to log in & comment.Thank you for sharing them with us, you have two very special little ladies there

[Ladybug01976]

Wow I am in tears.What a wonderful story!!!I can totally relate because that is kinda how my african Grey Julio came into my life and he is a real treasure!

[judygram]

OMG, I too am in tears over these two stories about Ruby and Gracie, they are truly blessed to have you as their companion and caretaker and once I started reading I couldn't stop until I finished. Thanks so much for sharing these stories with us, you have two beautiful greys and you have such a huge heart, Katrin is a very lucky woman, bless the both of you from the bottom of my heart:) :kiss:

[Raposa]

Oh, what a lovely story!!! I am SO happy that you and Gracie are together!

[pooky]

Im in tears as im writing this,what a wonderful story,Im so happy for you all.

Jackie xx

[bettyboop]

Omg, what an awesome story , just today I felt the need to bless those less fortunate than myself.This is just a confirmation to me to carry on ..

You have a gift and perhaps you should consider writting or ministry .You choose .LOL.....

I visited your profile and am curious about the artwork you display . Can you tell me something about it ?

I am so glad you have Gracie, she is beautiful .Also just curious again , what does she eat ? Her Feathers are so healthy looking .

Thanks for the awesome story about answered prayer.

Mary

[casper]

Thats another box of kleenex I have gone through Graehstone! That is a wonderful story, thanks for sharing. Caroline:)

[danmcq]

What a wonderful and inspiring story Graehstone!!

 

I must have missed this during my flurry of weekday work responsibilities.

 

Thanks for sharing this very wonderful and emotion provoking moment in your life and now in ours. This story will never be forgotten!!