This is an autobiographical post. The names of people and places may be changed.
We decided to write autobiographical posts about the colorful life we have lived. There will be tales of sleeping in a campervan on the beach, of defending a bird’s nest from a snake, and of running away from wolves while sick with bronchitis. There will be tales of diagnosis with PTSD and ADHD and how it changed our lives, of meeting biological family, and of job loss. It’s a tale of overcoming challenges, of finding out who we are, of love, hope, cats, and of a marriage that’s gotten stronger through it all.
Autobiography Post 13
In our last post we talked about the birds that nested each year in our front porch. Every spring they would build a nest and have babies. Across the summer the babies would fly off on their own adventures.
One year we had a terrible incident. Many of the birds fell out of the nest and onto the concrete. Once we noticed that they didn’t look good, we called a local wildlife rescue and tried to take the birds to them for care, but they passed away on the route. The wildlife rescue told us that sometimes when that happens, for that specific species of bird, the parents will stop taking care of them and they die. I remember just how sad I was, crying and crying over them.
So when, the next year, a single bird fell out of the nest, we knew we wouldn’t let that happen again.
We quickly put him into a box with towels and made sure he was comfortable. We sat the box in the tall bushes that were near the porch and in view of the nest. It was also a spot where we could watch him from the game room window and make sure he was alright.
We were so happy to see the parents attending to him! They visited him multiple times a day. As a couple of weeks passed, we ensured he was taken care of. When it rained, we brought the box to a chair on the covered porch to protect him. We ensured he always looked healthy. And we made certain his parents were still feeding him.
He grew up. Soon he started hopping about on the bush. Then he would fly around from branch to branch. And finally, one day he flew off on his own. I remember how happy we both were that we were able to save his life. It was a very rewarding experience.
