Scarlett0422
New member
- Jul 21, 2022
- 2
- 24
- Parrots
- Recently lost our Scarlet Macaw of 16.5 yrs but will eventually rescue another ounce our hearts are healed a bit and the grief isn't so painful anymore :(
I wish I could start of in this forum with some funny shenanigan's story my Scarlett did but instead I have to share the sad story about my sweet girl being gone and yes I mean have to share cause I don't feel like anyone else that doesn't have that bond with a feathered companion understands the depth of pain we feel when they leave us. If you lose a dog everyone feels sorry for you but as soon as you say you lost your bird they give you the "it's just a bird" look...... if they only knew what magical bond they're missing out on sharing your life with a winged best friend.
Our story began in 2006 when a friend invited me to come along to a Tupperware party. I walked in the house and there in the kitchen was a huge cage with the most beautiful Scarlet Macaw (she was 18 month old) that kept saying "hello" but no one paid attention to her. I spend most of the afternoon talking to the bird and falling in love with her. With my husband about to deploy again and my then teenage kids mostly ignoring me I felt like I had enough love and time to give this sweet girl the attention she deserved. We offered to trade our boat for her and they gladly accepted.
It took more than a year for her to completly trust me due to the neglect and abuse of her two previous homes prior to coming to us. I spend every waking minute with her and in time we had a bond that simply couldn't be broken and upon my husband's return from war, he had to win her over cause she wasn't going to share her momma with anyone. My husband and I were the only ones she truly trusted for the rest of her life.
She accompanied us through several military moves and seen many of our fur babies come and go over the next 16.5 yrs.
Her last day started off as usual by bringing her into her outdoor cage at about 6:30am for a few hrs so she could enjoy some natural sunlight and do some critter watching since she was always fascinated with our peacocks and guineas. It had been an extremely rough year with my husband still recovering from nearly dying after being electrocuted twice by a power line and me taking care of him and everything else which incl 21 horses and many more animals since we are a non profit animal rescue.
We usually would bring her back in at around noon before it got too hot out even thou in the years prior she was outside all day and never had any issues. That fatal day I had been up since 3 am(due to my husband forgetting to put his cpap on) and was extremely exhausted so I decided to rest for a bit not knowing that my husband fell asleep as well. We woke up a cpl hrs later and my husband came in hysterically screaming "Scarlett is dead" carrying her in his arms. We frantically tried everything including cpr but it was obvious she was gone
we held her for several hrs to come telling her how sorry we were and how much we loved her all the while hoping and praying she would suddenly wake up by some miracle. I'm never going to stop feeling guilty for falling asleep thinking I left her out too long, it will haunt me to my dying breath.
We decided to have her cremated so she can be with us forever.
She was like a child to us, we loved her soo much and tried to do right by her but in the end we failed her badly. Our hearts are shattered beyond repair and the reality of her being gone is almost more than I can handle. She was my companion for over 16 yrs and got me through some tough times incl multiple deployments, my kids moving out and every heartbreak in between. She would lick my tears when I cried and tell me "kiss kiss" and stick her little tongue out to kiss my cheek and imitate the smacking kiss sound. I will miss her for the rest of my life, we always thought she'd outlive us.
My initial thought was I will never have another parrot but I've come to realize this would not honor her memory cause I know she would want us to help another parrot in need like she was when we found her
For now we need time to heal first, in time hopefully a feathered friend in need will be guided to us by Scarletts spirit.
Please be kind in your replys cause nothing you could possibly say comes anywhere near to what I tell myself already.
Scarlett-Marie
07/04/04-07/18/22
Our story began in 2006 when a friend invited me to come along to a Tupperware party. I walked in the house and there in the kitchen was a huge cage with the most beautiful Scarlet Macaw (she was 18 month old) that kept saying "hello" but no one paid attention to her. I spend most of the afternoon talking to the bird and falling in love with her. With my husband about to deploy again and my then teenage kids mostly ignoring me I felt like I had enough love and time to give this sweet girl the attention she deserved. We offered to trade our boat for her and they gladly accepted.
It took more than a year for her to completly trust me due to the neglect and abuse of her two previous homes prior to coming to us. I spend every waking minute with her and in time we had a bond that simply couldn't be broken and upon my husband's return from war, he had to win her over cause she wasn't going to share her momma with anyone. My husband and I were the only ones she truly trusted for the rest of her life.
She accompanied us through several military moves and seen many of our fur babies come and go over the next 16.5 yrs.
Her last day started off as usual by bringing her into her outdoor cage at about 6:30am for a few hrs so she could enjoy some natural sunlight and do some critter watching since she was always fascinated with our peacocks and guineas. It had been an extremely rough year with my husband still recovering from nearly dying after being electrocuted twice by a power line and me taking care of him and everything else which incl 21 horses and many more animals since we are a non profit animal rescue.
We usually would bring her back in at around noon before it got too hot out even thou in the years prior she was outside all day and never had any issues. That fatal day I had been up since 3 am(due to my husband forgetting to put his cpap on) and was extremely exhausted so I decided to rest for a bit not knowing that my husband fell asleep as well. We woke up a cpl hrs later and my husband came in hysterically screaming "Scarlett is dead" carrying her in his arms. We frantically tried everything including cpr but it was obvious she was gone
we held her for several hrs to come telling her how sorry we were and how much we loved her all the while hoping and praying she would suddenly wake up by some miracle. I'm never going to stop feeling guilty for falling asleep thinking I left her out too long, it will haunt me to my dying breath.We decided to have her cremated so she can be with us forever.
She was like a child to us, we loved her soo much and tried to do right by her but in the end we failed her badly. Our hearts are shattered beyond repair and the reality of her being gone is almost more than I can handle. She was my companion for over 16 yrs and got me through some tough times incl multiple deployments, my kids moving out and every heartbreak in between. She would lick my tears when I cried and tell me "kiss kiss" and stick her little tongue out to kiss my cheek and imitate the smacking kiss sound. I will miss her for the rest of my life, we always thought she'd outlive us.
My initial thought was I will never have another parrot but I've come to realize this would not honor her memory cause I know she would want us to help another parrot in need like she was when we found her
For now we need time to heal first, in time hopefully a feathered friend in need will be guided to us by Scarletts spirit.
Please be kind in your replys cause nothing you could possibly say comes anywhere near to what I tell myself already.
Scarlett-Marie
07/04/04-07/18/22
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