It's still pretty hard, but I guess I'm coping. We put up some white storage cubes (they look cagelike), where his cage had been, and brought in some of our favorite stuffed parrots and cockatoos and 2 Lorikeets to put there. Some of them are Audubon birds and actually make bird sounds when squeezed, so that seems to be helping. We also have a silly Pete -Repeat- Parrot and we've been making him talk some too.

Today seems a little easier than yesterday but I was not alone today either, mom was here all day again and I was making graphics for her for VBS. Tomorrow John is off, and we were going to go to the zoo, but they are predicting serious storms, so we've changed plans and we're going to stay home and relax here instead.

So Thursday will be my first day alone all day without Sylvy. I was already pretty down about the church mess, and this hasn't helped it. But I'm trying to take a deep breath and take 1 day, or even 1 hour or 1 minute at a time.

Sylvy didn't talk, Grandfather never got a chance to teach him before he died, and once I got him, I had no idea HOW to train a parakeet. He kind of ruled us, so to speak, to some degree. But he did have very individual squawks and squeaks and chatters and I knew them all. Plus he had his own odd behaviors, like grabbing things on my desk like pens or pencils, and throwing them off on the floor. And he chewed anything in sight, so my dad built him his very own chewing gym with various wood things to chew on. He once chewed up the back of a railroad tie chair... I kid you not, and I never noticed what the little squirt was doing back there till he'd chewed it pretty good.

He was very unique, that's for sure. :)

Thanks again,

Brenda