During our discussions during the week, I told my husband I was disappointed in Piper’s unfriendliness, although he did “step up” for us and allow us to pick him up . . . after our tentativeness rewarded us with some bites. I certainly wanted the right bird for us and to be the best family for the bird, but I did feel an allegiance to the bird that brought us. I told my husband of my disappointment that Piper didn’t seem all that into us. My husband told me that when Piper was on the play stand and hadn’t wanted to be picked up, he was watching our every move as we interacted with the other birds. It both broke my heart and made it soar. I was not giving up on Piper.
All three birds were around the same age. We knew that conures live 20-30 years and all three were around the same age, five or six years old. After much discussion, we decided G wasn’t quite what we were looking for, but this elimination of him from the running made me sad. I wanted to save them all. My husband didn’t have a doubt that G would find a good home.
When we arrived at the rescue on the 18th, we told the woman at there that we had narrowed it down to T and Piper. We spent the afternoon there again, getting to know both of them better and asking questions about their histories and their habits. We rubbed T until our fingers cramped and let Piper climb all over us. We got nipped again, a lot, but we weren’t deterred. We understood these birds were defensive because whatever had brought them to the rescue had to be traumatic.
We left after several hours, with so much to think about. We were both quiet during the two-hour drive home, then finally asked each other which conure we thought we should adopt, which bird we would be best for. It was very important to us that we be the right choice for the bird too.
We spent the next few days discussing and thinking and feeling. There were a lot of factors to consider, including the way the birds had connected with us, how long they had been at the rescue, what we were looking for personality-wise, what the women running the rescue thought about each bird. I was, at times, so worried about the bird we wouldn’t choose that it clouded my decision-making process.
Finally, after much soul-searching by us both, we knew in our hearts which bird had chosen us. Three years ago today, I called the rescue and told her, that if he would have us, and if she gave her blessing, we wanted to be one of the conure’s forever family.
And through this wonderful woman, he said yes.
To be continued . . .
Previous chapters of ‘A Love Story’:
Part I, Part II, Part III, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
