Cinders
the Double yellowheaded Amazon came to me as a rehome. She was
extremely old, but full of character! Cinders had lived through a
world war, so great was her age.
Her favorite activity in life was trying (and often succeeding) to bite
people. Hard. She was totally wild at heart. When I first met Cinders, she
gave me a bite that took around ten days for the bruise to clear. I adored
her on sight, and in a short time, we developed a close and tender
friendship that thrilled and also astounded her previous owner of 25
years. Cinders and I were true soul-mates, and our trust and love for each
other was without boundaries. It was a truly incredible relationship, and
one that I shall treasure and remember til the day I die.
One night, instead of settling down to sleep as she always did, Cinders
called to me softly but insistently from her cage. There was something
about the way she called, something about the way she looked at me...
I lifted her from her cage and carried her to the sofa where she spread
her wings across my chest and rested her face against my neck. She relaxed
and settled immediately, she was where she needed to be.
I sat all through the night just holding her and gently stroking her head
and her back. She slept peacefully, occasionally just making her contented
little grunt that she made when she was at her happiest.
I knew that was to be our last night together, and the following day
Cinders flew free to the Rainbow Bridge.
She was 76 years old.
To me, Cinders was not pet of the day, she was pet of a lifetime.
