"The time of the singing of birds is come."
Solomon's Song
2:12
It all started with a bird. Mama was growing old, lonely,
sad, aching, and depressed. Once beautiful and active, now wrinkled, all her
activities and interests ended. Her life could have ended too. That was until
her son intervened.
Mama was Alice Moore, an eightyfive year old white
hair Episcopalian lady. She married Richard Hawthorne at age seventeen. She
spent her early life cooking, sewing, and helping on the farm. She collected
plates and played the dulcimer. Mama and Daddy lived in a modest white cement
ranch house on twenty acres outside Los Olivos, California, west of the Sierra
Madre Mountains. Daddy was a farmer, and he was a good father to me and my
brother. My brother Robert is an auto mechanic at the local Volvo dealer. He is
married and has two children. I'm Ann Hawthorne, and I'm not married, good for
me. I'm two years younger than Robert. But this is Mama's story.
Daddy
grew old and retired. For money he sold all the animals and all but one acre of
land. He became worn out and white haired also. Mama and Daddy argued over who
had the most white hair. Then Daddy had a stroke and became completely inactive.
His condition put an additional burden on Mama.
Mama had been a hard
worker all her life. She didn't have alot of money, but decorated the house with
beautiful things. And her chocolate chip cookies and chocolate pies won prizes
at the State Fair. But then old age slowly and cruelly started to destroy
her.
One day my brother called and she didn't answer. He drove quickly to
the house and found Mama in her chair crying. She was worried and on the edge of
a breakdown. Robert took her to a new young doctor. One of the things the doctor prescribed was pet therapy. He wanted
Mama to get her mind off of her problems.
Well, my brother went to the
pet store and bought a grey parrot. I thought at the time, "How stupid!" Mama
said, "I can't afford to buy it food, and I can't take care of it." Of course,
Robert was planning to buy the food and supplies.
Buddy the parrot ate
nuts, fresh fruits, grains, seeds, beans, and vegetables. "The bird eats more
than I do," said Mama. Buddy had a large pretty wooden cage with a play gym and a
bell that he would ring when he wanted Mama to let him out. Robert hung perches
all over the house. He bought bird diapers for Buddy, and eventually Buddy was
potty trained. Buddy followed Mama from room to room. Buddy learned a vocabulary
of about fifty words. "I'm Buddy." "Mama." "Where's Robert?" "Are you talking to
me?" "What's going on?" "Pretty bird." "Jesus saves." "Jesus loves me."
"Night-night." Once Buddy broke a glass on a table, and cried, "Help." Everytime
the phone rang he would say, "Hello."
Robert put up a bird feeder
outside a window, bought Mama a bird book and binoculars. Nuthatches, humming
birds, finches, and bluebirds came to visit. Then my brother bought another
bird, a macaw. Daddy sat in a daze all day with a hat on while the two birds
would fly over him. He told me, "Dang birds shouldn't be in a house!" Lucky, the
macaw, had a vocabulary of about twenty words. "Hello." "Hello Buddy." "Good
bird." "Good By." "Love you." "I'm Lucky." Lucky liked to watch television,
especially animal programs.
**continue**
