Sister Rain’s Note:
In July 2015 I began a series of posts about Piper, my now 17-year-old orange-fronted conure (a type of parrot) who adopted Mister Rain and me when he was 6. I don’t intend to republish previous content on this site but I think the story of Piper and me is worth retelling to all who are new to Sister Rain. During the next several Fridays I will repost the Love Story chapters I had written almost nine years ago. Rest assured, there is a lot more where these came from. There always is when you’re talking about the great loves of your life.
To read Piper & Me: A Love Story (Part1-3), click here.
To read Piper & Me: A Love Story (Part 4-5), click here.
To read Piper & Me: A Love Story (Part 6), click here.
To read Piper & Me: A Love Story (Part 7), click here.
PART 8
Originally Published August 26, 2015
I told the owner of A Helping Wing Parrot Rescue & Sanctuary that we would love to adopt one of the two birds we were still considering on a Tuesday. I made arrangements with her to come to the rescue that coming Sunday, August 26th, 2012 to bring him home. We discussed what type of cage and travel carrier we would need, as well as food and toys that our bird liked. OUR bird. I already thought of him that way.
I called my husband as soon as I hung up with the rescue. I had a crack in my voice as I told him everything that had been said, that we had the their blessing to adopt this young male conure. The rescue owner had reiterated to me that this bird had never responded to anyone but Mister Rain and me. This, plus the interactions with him during our visits, had made our decision for us. Also, when we found out he had been there for two years as compared to the newer arrivals, my husband, especially, found this to be the scale tipper.
That Saturday, we headed to Burlington, New Jersey to a bird store we had heard about from the rescue owner, Bird Paradise. Its website boasts it is “The World’s Largest Exotic Bird Super Store,” and they ain’t lying. We were picking our feathered friend up the next day, so we were under the gun to get everything we needed. I took a list of the things the rescue had recommended, yet even with that in hand, as well as pictures of our bird’s current cage with his toys inside, I still had to call the rescue several times. Although we had to move quickly, I wanted to do everything possible to make the move as stress-free for this little guy, who had been through so much. His leg band showed he was hatched in Florida, had somehow ended up at the rescue in New York, which eventually moved to New Jersey. And now, his last move, to Pennsylvania.
We were at Bird Paradise for several hours, leaving with food, toys and a huge cage that would have to be put together that night. Its box barely fit in my small SUV. We made one more stop at a local pet store to pick up a small travel carrier. Mister Rain spent the evening assembling the large cage, which came with no instructions, while I pimped it out with perches and toys. When we were done, the size of this cage, coupled with all the things for our bird to play with, warranted a name that has replaced the word “cage.” It was christened right then as “The Mansion.”
Everything was ready. We had provided our application to the rescue on our first visit, it included references, our history as bird parronts, plus other information about our lives. Normally, the rescue does home visits before approving an adoption, but given our distance from the rescue, along with our experience with our first bird, Cato, they asked us to please bring some pictures of our house when we came to pick up our boy.
This was an immense commitment. We knew it, we did not take it lightly. Only 25 days had passed since I found our bird online, but that last night without him seemed infinitely long.
To be continued . . .
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