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1958 |
MikePattiJulieMackenzieMikeyStandishCassidyJones FamilyKenNellActivitiesAudio ClipsCoin CollectionFavorite LinksHeart SmartPicture TrailsQuicktime SnipsRecipesRock CollectionStamp CollectionUnknown Student Art |
The boys wanted to raise birds when they were young, so Papa bought them a pair of parakeets from Mr. Morgan. Mr. Morgan raised parakeets for a hobby. He had all colors, all ages and knew how to raise them. After telling us about them Papa took us all over to pick out the colors we wanted. The boys picked two beautiful green ones. Papa built them a box with nests in it and covered it with wire. He provided them with everything for them to raise parakeets. One morning Mike went out to feed them and they flew out of the cage! His heart was broken. We all went out to search for them and for days they sat on the pourch and watched for their birds to come back. All of us were so grieved over the loss of the birds. The boys at once set out to catch wild birds. They had done this since they could walk good. Ken would take a cardboard box, put a stick at the front to hold it up, tie a string to the stick at the ground level and run it to the house. After putting bread crumbs under the box he would stand at the window and watch for a bird to go under the box to get the bread crumbs. This would keep them happy for hours when it snowed and they had to stay inside. By this time Ken was the neighborhood "Bird Doctor". Anyone who found an injured bird would bring it for Ken to doctor. There was a young bird once that couldn't fly. It had fluttered under the old church bus that was in the parking lot above the house at Eastlan. An old gray cat got the bird before Mike could get to it and Mike saw the cat eating on the poor little bird. He was so upset it took hours to console him. It was days before he could go around the bus without crying. He told Perron about the cat eating the bird and she in turn told one of her close friends at work. This friend was so impressed with their love for birds that she gave them a parakeet that she was tired of. They then became the owners of Pretty Boy. He was a treasure. They treated him like a new member of the family. We had had him several months. The boys would let him out of the cage to fly around in the house. He hid someplace and we had hunted all over the house, but no Pretty Boy. Several mornings later one of the boys went upstairs for something and Pretty Boy flew out and came downstairs. We were all so excited and happy that he was found. I had to leave for work at the Airport Cleaners and Laundry. I left about thirty minutes before their father came from work. I just had got there when Ms. Durham from the barber shop came and told me my little boy was on the phone. I said, "He doesn't know how to call me out here!", but I went to the phone. Mike was on and he was crying. He said, "Pretty Boy is dead." I yelled out, "Dead!" Every barber in the shop was gathered around to see what was happening. I explained to them about Pretty Boy and it seemed they were trying to catch him and when they slammed the door between the kitchen and living room Pretty Boy's head was caught in the door. They had buried him and had a funeral with flowers for the grave when I got home from work. Copyright ©1990 by Piedmont Endeavors, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of these stories may be reproduced by any means electronic or otherwise without the prior approval of the author. |
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Copyright © 2003 |
