Thursday, March 16, 2006
Worth A Hundred Times That!
Echo came into our life over 10 years ago. An African Grey Congo blind in the right eye, age unknown, and way overweight. Her owner fed her cheese puffs and sunflower seeds. The owner had to move back home with her parents and couldn’t take the bird with her. She wanted $50. for her and we agreed to take her. When we went to pick her up we had to chase her down. She moves wildly around the apartment growling angrily. We finally got her contained and on her way to join our household of two cockatiels, another African grey, a cat, and I can’t remember if we had the cockatoos and finches or not.
When it came time to name her I remembered Cindy had taken Mythology in college and had told me about Echo. I fell in love with the name and decided that the new member of our family from then on would be known as Echo. Eventually she stopped growling and though we were never able to handle her she grew accustom to living in our household.
As the years passed little rituals developed between Echo and me. When I would feed her I would curl my fingers into the palm of my hand and offer her the knuckle side of my hand. I would say give Momma kiss and she would nibble on my knuckles gently. Also anytime I offered her apple, broccoli, Cheerios, or any treat she would reward me with a thank you of woo, woo, woo. I always replied your welcome.
The last few days I noticed what seemed to be a grey growth on either her wing or the side of her body. I called to set up an appointment with the Vet to have the growth that was getting rapidly larger check out. The Vet said that it was a tumor on the wing and that even with amputation it would probably continue to return. Also she was losing the sight in the other eye. The Vet said that that condition might slow any recovery and would pose a problem with injury to the wing. So I swallowed my tears and made the decision to put her down. I vowed long ago that my pets would never suffer.
Tonight I cry but I know she had a good life with us and brought us some happy times. I only hope we did the same for her. Even though she cost only $50. she has been worth a hundred times that. Good Bye My Echo!
