In Caring We Learn
In memory of my pet budgie
Last week one of my pet budgies passed away. This post commemorates the nine years she spent with me.
News of the reading club: we hold a monthly reading club that mainly focuses on Taiwan literature. Anyone interested is welcome to join us. The next meeting will be held online at 9:00 am (Taipei Time) on September 24 for Mulberry and Peach by Hauling Nieh. If you are interested, feel free to leave a comment, reply to this e-mail message or write to me at transcreation@substack.com to register by September 17.
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這篇文章的中文版在這裡。
One of my pet budgies passed away last week. In 2014, I adopted from a netizen two budgies, Chirpy (喧喧) and Chirrupy (嘩嘩), who were about three years old back then. They have moved several times with me for the past few years; early this year they moved back to the place where they first lived with me, being under my care again. Chirpy and Chirrupy came to us nine years ago in August, and Chirrupy passed away also in August nine years later. The average lifespan of a budgerigar is 7-15 years, so Chirrupy could be said to have died at a ripe old age of 12.
Chirrupy injured her wings in youth. She could barely fly, and was relatively weak in her grasping strength. In the past six months, her health has been up and down, and the vet could not help her much, as she had difficulty in putting on weight. These few months, the first thing I did every morning was to prepare bird formula for her, to see her screaming angrily (as she did not want to be held) but still voluntarily coming to my hand (as she probably wanted to be fed), and to gently hold her thin body of little more than 30 grams. It was nice to watch her drink the formula, and walk around outside the cage and play on the swing when she felt stronger. During this period of taking care of her, I was thinking about what else I could do for her (later I bought some hand warmers which she would sometimes squat on), while trying to balance the pace of caring for the sick with my own life and work.
I was not particularly thoughtful in deciding to keep a pet bird. Two years ago, I adopted another pet parrot, Sunny (晴晴), and early this year brought back Chirpy and Chirrupy to live with me. After I started bird-watching these years, I always feel that what I could give Chirpy, Chirrupy and Sunny was so little, not enough to repay them for their companionship, and not enough to make up for their lost freedom of flying. Anyway, all I could to is to take good care of them, to cherish everything they have brought to me and to thank them for enriching my life.
Last Thursday morning (August 24), Chirrupy, who had been playing around the day before, suddenly became weak again. She refused to drink any formula for the whole day, and passed away that night. I took her body out to put it in the refrigerator. Despite the already cold and stiff body, the feathers were still soft to the touch. I was saddened to see the empty cage the next morning, realizing that I no longer had to prepare the formula for her. But her burial and the sight of her lying peacefully in the soil offered me great comfort.
Now you are free from all the sickness and pain. May you rest in peace, may you fly happily in heaven.
I'm sorry for your loss, Wenpei. Thanks for sharing this. What a gorgeous bird—that yellow is so bright!