RIP RICKY

Today was a sad morning for my husband James and I. Our canary, Ricky, passed away. 😢 It appeared as though he died in his sleep. Part of me was not surprised because yesterday when I was feeding him and refreshing his water, he wanted to be near me instead of flying to the other side of his cage like he usually did. I remember smiling and talking to him yet I also felt a twinge of sadness in my heart. As if something was about to change.  I think maybe my spirit knew he was saying goodbye. 😢 Had I known, I would have spent a little more time with him that morning instead of rushing into my office.   Or perhaps, I would have brought my laptop to the room and tried to do some of my work at the desk beside his cage.  Ricky loved it when I did this as he would perch himself next to me, as close to the cage bars as he could and “talk”.  It was something that I treasured.  I know that you cannot beat yourself up about the ‘what ifs’ but I wish I would have heeded the twinge of warning I felt in my heart.

Ricky’s Story

Ricky became part of our family on December 31, 2011.  He had been at the Pet store for a couple of weeks with his cage mate, a cute shaft-tail finch. Every single time we went into the store you could hear Ricky singing at the top of his lungs, even if you were way in the back of the store. The store associates said hearing him made their day. It made our day too, as he sang such beautiful songs. I told my husband I would love to bring him home but I was still hurting from losing our cockatiel earlier that year and wasn’t ready for another bird just yet.

Well, as usual, James doesn’t listen to me (in this case it was a good thing! 🤣😂) and he came home with Ricky (named after the bandleader, Ricky Ricardo from the Lucille Ball show, 🥁🎷🎺) on New Year’s Eve.

The store associate told James that Ricky and the Finch were raised by a local breeder and the two had been cage mates since they were born. Hearing this made me sad to think they were being separated so we went the next day and picked up ‘Harmony’. Ricky was so happy to see her and sang extra long that day. Those two loved each other so much and watching them interact together made us smile and laugh all the time.

This morning when our daughter, Kelly, told our granddaughter Ana that Opa and Oma were sad because Ricky the Bird died, she said, “But he’s up in the sky now! and birds are suppose to be up in the sky. Birds like to fly.’ ❤ Leave it to a child to bring a new perspective on a situation and make you smile.

Heaven is a little louder and sweeter today because Ricky is now singing in the chorus while flying around with his buddy, Harmony. The thought of that warms my heart and makes it a little easier to say goodbye.

PS. In case you may be wondering about Harmony.   Sadly, she passed away in May of 2015. Ricky stopped singing for weeks after she was gone and we wondered if he would ever sing again.  Then one day we heard a few chirps, and then a few more and soon he started letting  out a long thrill as if he was clearing his throat and soon began to sing again!  His songs were never the same as before Harmony passed but they were still so beautiful.    For those that say animals do not grieve, I would challenge them.  In all our years of being pet parents, we have seen time and time again,  our pets clearly grieving when one of them dies, especially if they happen to be very close.   It can break your heart to watch but it also gives you joy and hope when they return to themselves, even with some change, and move on.

Harmony and Ricky were busy little birds, too!  Harmony was a master architect when it came to weaving her white fluffy bedding.  She would spend hours weaving the bedding along the bars of the cage and anything else she could attach it too.  She eventually taught Ricky the skill and it was fantasizing to watch them.